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Acting for both landowners and tenants since 1850, Masons Rural has a long and successful history of providing practical agricultural business services across the rural landscape.

Business Advice from Masons

From budgeting and cashflow to grants and farming arrangements, tax and succession planning, even help with administration, our team of experienced business professionals has an exceptional working knowledge of rural affairs. Together, our partners, consultants and land agents have the skills to unlock new opportunities and mitigate threats facing rural businesses in challenging times.


Joint & Contract Farming


Deer Management Plans

Budgets Cashflows and Business Advice

In addition to applying for and receiving grants, it’s very important to manage those agri-environmental schemes to meet the terms of the funding. 

We offer exceptional rural business management and advice with proven knowledge, experience and performance in the rural business sector, especially here in Lincolnshire. 
Masons Rural team can assist you with:

  • Grant applications & accurate paperwork

  • Budgets and cashflow forecasts 

  • Agri-environment schemes

  • Tendering 

  • Strategic rural business advice

  • Business administration to ensure maximum returns

  • New, existing and historical regulation & legislation 

“I found Ella to be very competent, knowledgeable and personable. She was very pleasant to work with, provided us with excellent detailed feedback throughout the process and when she billed us. Most importantly she achieved outstanding results for us, which were genuinely beyond our expectations.”

M Winter, Masons Rural Client

Funding Advice from Masons

With recent changes it can be challenging for farmers, land managers and woodland owners to keep up to date with the latest payment streams from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Rural Payments Agency. That’s why Masons Rural team will do it for you.

Grants & Funding

We have access to the latest grants and funding information, increasingly linked to projects that mitigate the impacts of climate change and support nature-friendly sustainable farm businesses.

New funding streams like the Farming Investment Fund allow farmers, foresters, growers and contractors to adapt to future farming methods and invest in new technology.

Other grant funding streams embrace the proud heritage and culture of farming in Lincolnshire. We can access and manage all sorts of innovative grants available in our region to help you start, maintain or grow your rural business.

Talk to us about applying for money to improve your land’s productivity today.

Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS)

There are 3 new schemes that will reward environmental land management:

  • Sustainable Farming Incentive

  • Local Nature Recovery

  • Landscape Recovery

Intended to support the rural economy while achieving the goals of the government’s A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment with commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.

Through these schemes, farmers and land managers may enter into agreements to be paid for delivering:

  • clean and plentiful water

  • clean air

  • thriving plants and wildlife

  • protection from environmental hazards

  • reduction of and adaptation to climate change

  • beauty, heritage and engagement with the environment

Sustainable Farming Incentive

This scheme will pay farmers to manage their land in an environmentally sustainable way along a set of standards based on a feature like hedgerows or grassland with a group of actions to carry out. 

Masons Rural can help you choose which standards to adopt and where on your land to apply them.

You’ll be paid for completing these actions within the standards you choose.

Local Nature Recovery

This scheme will pay for actions that support local nature recovery and meet local environmental priorities. The aim is to encourage collaboration between farmers, helping them work together to improve their local environment. The scheme will begin piloting in 2022, and launch in 2024.

Landscape Recovery

This scheme will support landscape and ecosystem recovery through long-term projects like:

  • restoring wilder landscapes in places where appropriate

  • large-scale tree planting

  • peatland and saltmarsh restoration

The scheme will begin piloting around 10 projects in 2022, and launch in 2024. 

Contact Masons Rural on 01507 350500 Option 3 to find out more.

Stewardship Schemes

Countryside Stewardship (CS) provides financial incentives for farmers, woodland owners, foresters and land managers to improve the environment and look after it. 

Masons Rural team can help with applications to look after and improve the environment by:

  • conserving and restoring wildlife habitats

  • flood risk management

  • woodland creation and management

  • reducing widespread water pollution from agriculture

  • keeping the character of the countryside

  • preserving historical features in the landscape

  • encouraging educational access

The main elements to the scheme are:

  • Mid Tier

  • Wildlife Offers

  • Higher Tier

  • Capital grants

  • Protection and Infrastructure

  • Woodland support grants

Woodland Grants & Regulations

With so many grants and other incentives available for using your land for woodland creation, maintenance, management and tree health it is important to apply for the right scheme for you and meet the regulations for Woodland Grants. 

Masons Rural team has years of experience in woodland grants and maintenance and can assist you in exploring which grant or scheme is most appropriate for your land and situation, whether through Countryside Stewardship or Forestry Commission (FC). 

Schemes to consider include:

  • Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG)

  • England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO)

  • Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF)

  • Woodland Carbon Code (WCC)

  • Woodland Carbon Guarantee (WCaG)

  • Countryside Stewardship Grants

  • Woodland Management Planning Grant (WMP) part of Countryside Stewardship

  • Woodland Creation and Maintenance (WCM) part of Countryside Stewardship

  • Woodland Tree Health part of Countryside Stewardship

  • Woodland Improvement (WD2 and capital items) part of Countryside Stewardship

Get in touch

Call us on 01507 350500 or send us a message...