Application attachments – Investment aid for farms

Applications for agricultural investment aid must be accompanied by the following documents so that the conditions for granting the support can be assessed:

1. Business plan on form 3430 and related financial statements
2. Bank loan commitment on form 3311
3. Tax information:

• A copy of tax form 2 (agricultural tax return) for the applicant(s) for the last tax return submitted prior to the initiation of the application
• A copy of the tax forms with which the applicant has reported their income to the tax authority in the year preceding the initiation of the application
• A reliable statement of changes in income if they have significantly changed or will change from the amounts recorded in the text documents. If these changes are based on changes in the employment relationship, an employer's certificate must be provided.

4. A copy of the lease agreements, if the building in question is located in an area whose management is based on a lease agreement. The granting of the aid is subject to the condition that the lease agreements are valid for 10 years and have been registered.

5. A list of the company's debts secured by company assets (form 500) or equivalent information and, where applicable, an abstract of title for the farm.

6. Construction plans made in accordance with the Finnish Building Code A2 and the construction-related decrees of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry:

• 1) Main drawings.
• construction specifications (recommended: itemised according to Talo nomenclature)
• A detailed cost estimate or calculation based on the construction specifications and drawn up using methods in general use within the construction sector;
• Special plans, such as structural, HVAC, electrical and other similar plans, if they are relevant when assessing the functionality of the building and the acceptable costs.

7. Copies of the official permits required for the investment and the accompanying appendices

8. Plans, created with sufficient professional competence, for subsurface ditches and other construction-related sites

9. Quotes for machinery, equipment and other procurements

10. If the applicant is an organisation, the application must also include:

• The income statement and balance sheet for the three years preceding the application
• If the applicant is a company registered in the trade register, an extract from the trade register and, in the case of juristic persons, and the organisation’s articles of association
• For other private or public entities, a report on persons who have the right to sign
• A copy of the minutes of the meeting of the organisation in which the project and the related support application were decided on

 Business plan contents and layout

The business plan must contain at least the following information:

1. Information about the support applicant

• Age
• The applicant's professional skills or actions to be taken to supplement these skills;
• The applicant's permanent place of residence and place of work for any person receiving earnings from outside the farm

2. Regarding the initial status of the farm:

• Basic business information and an account of the management of the farm or organisation
• Persons engaged in the farm’s operations and the employability of the operations
• The farm’s production buildings, machinery, agricultural land and other resources and their use and suitability for the operations within the support application
• Cultivated areas and yields for plant production
• Livestock quantities and yields for domestic animal production
• Primary marketing channels for primary products
• equivalent data (from sections a–f) for forestry and other business activities

3. Information on the measure to be supported

4. An estimate of the objectives of the development of the farm's activities and the measures required for it, and an estimate of the marketing opportunities of the main products

5. Farm income statement and balance sheet in which depreciation and balance sheet values are calculated in accordance with section 9 of the relevant government decree (240/2015) as well as the key figures based on these, including as a minimum the net profit ratio, entrepreneurial income and equity ratio.

6. The entire farm's liquidity plan, which, in addition to agricultural income, must also take into account the applicant's non-agricultural income

7. Information on the applicant's total annual income, including the necessary calculations

8. Information on other factors necessary for the implementation of the measures and the impact on the production conditions of the farm in terms of the working environment, production hygiene, animal welfare or protection of the environment

The reference period for the calculation of sections 5 to 7 must cover the year preceding the year of application, the year of application and at least six financial years following the year of application or, if the management of the farm will begin after the support is granted, at least the initial year and the following five financial years. The calculations and reports must be based on the accounting data for the two financial years preceding the application or other such reliable data. The person making the calculations must present the bases and the source material for the forecasts made. The start-up and investment aid granted for the liquidity plan is to be entered as income for the years in which the grants are expected to be paid.

A risk assessment must be carried out if the costs of the new construction or expansion investments exceed EUR 100,000.