Dairy farmers have seen the greatest loss in eligible items regarding TAMS III, with a total of 13 items that had been listed for grant aid under TAMS II not included in TAMS III.

The removed items primarily concern equipment and construction associated with milking parlours and collecting yards.

The main gripe that dairy farmers will have against the new TAMS is the removal of milking parlours, dairies and plant rooms from the eligible items list.

Grant aid is available for new cluster units for new milking machines or extensions to existing machines.

Rotary parlours have been removed from the list, having previously been grant aided at €4,750/cluster unit.

In-parlour meal feeders and troughs have also been cut and will not be grant-aided, with meal bins on new or existing bases removed from the dairy equipment scheme, although these are included in general items

In TAMS II, collecting yards - either slatted or solid - as well as walls, gates and feeding barriers for these yards, had all been eligible, with the repetitive theme of limiting grant aid towards milking equipment repeated once again with their exclusion from TAMS III.

New items

However, there are several new items added to the TAMS listings that are mainly targeted at dairy farmers.

Herd health and breeding monitors - in the form of collars, tags and boluses - have been included in the new TAMS, with underpasses, farm roads, calving cameras and drafting systems all now included.

Limitations on herd size

While the exact terms and conditions of TAMS III are yet to be announced, limitations on herd size regarding grant aid for milking equipment have long been rumoured.

In the Dáil last week, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said "for applications under the dairy equipment capital investment scheme, women farmers capital investment scheme and organic capital investment scheme’’ applicants could apply for grant aid for up to "10 units in a herringbone parlour or one robotic milking machine, if they have less than 120 cows on average in the year preceding making the application", with the Minister also confirming that this limit would not be imposed on young farmers seeking grant aid under the Young Farmers Capital Investment Scheme (YFCIS), where a higher limit of 160 cows would be introduced.