The latest figures released by the Department of Agriculture show 18,354 applicants across 1,112 groups approved to date under the new Knowledge Transfer (KT) Group Scheme.
The Department advises that this is not the final figure, with about 20,000 applications received. A spokesperson said the Department is liaising with facilitators to finalise the approval of outstanding group or individual applications where there are queries arising or appeals have been lodged. Table 1 gives a breakdown of the number of participants and groups across the six eligible sectors. Beef is the dominant enterprise, with 9,649 participants confirmed so far across 568 groups, followed by dairy and sheep with 3,986 and 3,556 respectively.
The total participation in the three-year, €100m KT Group Scheme falls short of the target of 27,000 applicants set by Minister Creed when launching in mid-May. Some reports suggest restrictions on structure contributed to the scheme failing to hit targets, with group size set generally between 12 and 18 participants, encouraging some long-established larger groups to continue their group without partaking.
Payment and workload
There is an annual payment of €750 for successful participants, with each facilitator paid €500 per applicant for each year a group completes.
Allowance was made at the outset to allow farmers to partake in a second knowledge transfer group and in this case a reduced payment rate of 50% applies to the participant and his/her facilitator.
Each participant must complete a farm improvement plan (FIP) in conjunction with their facilitator which highlights areas where production efficiencies can be improved. Another area where there is still not full clarity is what cost veterinary practitioners are going to charge for drawing up an animal health plan for the farm with reports to-date suggesting costs discussed average between €200 and €250 per applicant.
Read more
Full coverage: Knowledge Transfer scheme
The latest figures released by the Department of Agriculture show 18,354 applicants across 1,112 groups approved to date under the new Knowledge Transfer (KT) Group Scheme.
The Department advises that this is not the final figure, with about 20,000 applications received. A spokesperson said the Department is liaising with facilitators to finalise the approval of outstanding group or individual applications where there are queries arising or appeals have been lodged. Table 1 gives a breakdown of the number of participants and groups across the six eligible sectors. Beef is the dominant enterprise, with 9,649 participants confirmed so far across 568 groups, followed by dairy and sheep with 3,986 and 3,556 respectively.
The total participation in the three-year, €100m KT Group Scheme falls short of the target of 27,000 applicants set by Minister Creed when launching in mid-May. Some reports suggest restrictions on structure contributed to the scheme failing to hit targets, with group size set generally between 12 and 18 participants, encouraging some long-established larger groups to continue their group without partaking.
Payment and workload
There is an annual payment of €750 for successful participants, with each facilitator paid €500 per applicant for each year a group completes.
Allowance was made at the outset to allow farmers to partake in a second knowledge transfer group and in this case a reduced payment rate of 50% applies to the participant and his/her facilitator.
Each participant must complete a farm improvement plan (FIP) in conjunction with their facilitator which highlights areas where production efficiencies can be improved. Another area where there is still not full clarity is what cost veterinary practitioners are going to charge for drawing up an animal health plan for the farm with reports to-date suggesting costs discussed average between €200 and €250 per applicant.
Read more
Full coverage: Knowledge Transfer scheme
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