Agricultural road grants are to be approved under the TAMS 3 program

The standard subsidy rate is again 40% for young farmers (under 40) and female farmers up to 68 years of age who have access to an increased subsidy rate of 60% provided they meet the necessary eligibility requirements.

The final tranche of TAMS 2 will close on December 16, 2022. The Ministry of Agriculture has announced that TAMS 3 is scheduled to open in January 2023.

The terms of the new program and the investment list for supported objects are currently being finalized.

However, the Independent Farming expects the new program will have a stronger focus on automation and labor savings on farms.

Digital tillage applications, EID tag readers, computer information systems, heat detection systems, ear tags and pedometers are expected to be eligible for aid.

The modernization of animal husbandry facilities – or the construction of new animal husbandry facilities on farms – will again be funded.

Investments that benefit the environment should also be supported, such as B. Nutrient storage systems and precision farming equipment such as low-interference tillage equipment.

It provides further support for precision grass meters, rainwater harvesting and storage, solar panels, heat recovery units, heat pumps, biomass boilers, ventilation and insulation that reduce energy pressure on farms and improve water quality on farms.

Investments in dairy equipment in the new TAMS program are to be limited Independent Farming understands.

Concerns were expressed that milking robots would not receive any aid under the scheme. However, it is now understood that robotic milkers will receive financial support, but support is limited to just one robot.

Meanwhile, parlor sizes are set to be limited to 10 units to support what a ministry source described as “family-sized” dairy units.

It is believed that many of the new restrictions are due to pressure from the European Commission to ensure that investment in TAMS 3 would not contribute to an increase in livestock on Irish farms.

ICMSA Deputy President Denis Drennan said there was still a degree of uncertainty about the final version of TAMS 3, but if the well-placed reports were confirmed, the dairy equipment component would be “hopelessly inadequate”.

Drennan said if that is the case, it is simply further confirmation that government policy is now designed to move beyond simply “freezing” current milk production and actually reducing production levels over the next five years.

He said he wasn’t sure the full economic implications of such a policy would be grasped by the wider community. But it was the issue of health and safety and physical and mental health and well-being that Drennan said the case for at least parity for dairy farming in TAMS funding was the most urgent and obvious.

“Even if we set aside the issue of modernizing dairy farms and improving their sustainability – and ICMSA believes we shouldn’t – we still have the areas of farmer welfare and health and safety. Surely we all agree that the physical safety and mental health of all farmers should be a priority of TAMS policy and funding?

“There are so many areas and tools that would make a huge positive difference for so many farmers and we want this to be prioritized under the new TAMS and made available to all farmers – and especially those dairy farmers who are covered under the this is how other CAP headings have been discriminated against,” said Drennan.

The new agricultural construction program kicks off after a year of rampant inflation in construction costs. Farm building providers have estimated that the cost of building an average farm shed has increased by 50 percent since 2020.

According to the CSO, the price of ready-mixed concrete has increased by 25 percent over the past two years, while the price of precast concrete has increased by 35 percent.

The cost increases have forced the Ministry of Agriculture to increase the reference costs for certain investments twice in the last 12 months.

However, it is now understood that a further review of the reference cost is underway as inflation continues to impact the economy and particularly with the planned introduction of the concrete levy.