Farmers seeking to apply for grant funding for on-farm investments have just two months to submit an application to the latest TAMS tranche.

Having announced the opening of tranche 18 last week, the Department of Agriculture has confirmed it will close for applications on 7 August. Usually, tranches open for a period of three months.

The Department of Agriculture confirmed the short time frame to the IFA and also confirmed that over 5,000 farmers submitted applications to the last TAMS tranche, which closed on 5 June.

This is the highest number of applications ever submitted to a single tranche and comes after the closing date was extended by three months and as the farm investment scheme approaches its end.

Planning

Farmers were permitted to submit applications without planning permission due to backlogs in the planning process. Farmers who did not have full approval at the time of application have until 10 July to submit it.

IFA rural development chair Michael Biggins has called on the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to issue early approvals for all those who applied to the tranche. To date, €30m has been paid out of a 2020 budget of €82.5m.

Tranches

The Department of Agriculture told the Irish Farmers Journal last week that no decision had been taken on the number of tranches that remain in TAMS.

Biggins said that remained the case, with the scheme due to end on 31 December 2020.

At a meeting with the Department, the IFA put forward a case for the continuation of TAMS during a transitional period in the CAP which is set to last for a year or two.

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