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As spending through the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) surpasses the €50m mark, we sat down with Dr Robert Leonard and Oliver Molloy from the TAMS section of the Department of Agriculture to examine the importance of building to specification. Robert is responsible for the specifications to which buildings are completed, while Oliver Molloy is responsible for the running of TAMS.
A lot of building work has occurred on farms over the past few years and it does not look like this is going to slow down any time soon. Some farmers may believe that if you are not completing the project through TAMS then there is no need for planning permission, but that is not true.
Don’t rush the design
“Planning permission is a legal requirement – whether you are going for grant and or not you need planning [or an exemption from planning],” according to Robert. “The cost of the planning permission is relatively low. It’s the time frame that most farmers would be concerned about but if it is properly designed and all the correct information supplied then that is only three months.
“If you are doing a building you want to make sure that you have it designed correctly, that you have good drawings even if you are not going for planning so that cost is there anyway.”
However, Oliver is continuously coming across incorrect plans of proposed sheds being submitted when seeking TAMS approval. “A lot of farmers will get a draughtsperson to draw the buildings and what we are finding is that a lot of these people aren’t up to date with the Department specifications. They are designing narrow passageways, they don’t know about the ventilation requirements, we have even got ones in with internal agitation points,” Oliver said.
“It is important to read the specifications at the design stage of the building,” according to Robert. “If you are thinking of designing a building then you should be thinking two years down the road. It’s not going up for this winter, it’s the following winter you are putting it up for. You need to put in the time to visit other buildings, talk to other farmers and see how they got on.
“Mark out the proposed building on the actual ground where it would be so you can see how you can manoeuvre around it. Make sure that it is located correctly. It’s much easier to move it when you are designing it than when it is actually up there.”
“Another thing that farmers have to look at is whether they should go for a greenfield site,” according to Oliver. “If you have an old yard or it is in a depression, maybe you should just start afresh.”
“With machinery getting bigger you need space between buildings,” Robert added.
Improvements
Many improvements have been made to the Department specifications over the years to improve the strength of the structure. “Changes in relation to safety are the main ones that have come in over the years,” said Robert. “The CE marking on buildings is a legal requirement which shows it is up to standard. Agricultural buildings are a very aggressive environment for buildings materials. There is a lot of water, and gases, that can lead to corrosion. The strength of the concrete has also increased over the years to 37N and 45N but that is to give it more of a durability.
“One of the more recent changes, saw feed passages getting wider to cope with larger machinery. From a safety point of view having direct access to every pen, without having to go through another animal pen was also a key change. Another relatively new change is where 4m must be left from the front of the crush to the wall so that animals can exit safely.”
These specifications are continually being reviewed, so for that reason it is important to take time to read through them.
Slurry tanks
To be eligible for grant aid through TAMS you must have sufficient slurry storage on your farm for all the livestock on the holding. The requirement has meant that some people are ineligible.
“Department specifications are the legal requirements that you must build all your effluent and slurry storage structures to,” Robert said.
“It’s not a case of ‘if I am not getting a grant that I don’t need to go to the Department specifications’ – you do. A tank is not a place to cut corners. If tanks do not meet the specifications then they will fail down the road prematurely.”
“One thing that has not really changed in 30 years is the steel required in tanks. It is the steel which gives the structural strength to the tank. It’s a false economy to reduce the amount of steel as it means that you have a weak tank.”
Oliver said: “One option for farmers is to build the tank outside of the grant and get the grant aid on the rest of the project. You have to get a certified engineer to sign off that it has been built to specification. The engineer has to be there the whole way along to verify the correct steel and concrete is being used.”
One key area of new and existing sheds that farmers need to look at is the slats. “Slats have a relatively short life so you need to be keeping an eye on them after 15 years,” according to Robert. “There are a lot of slats out there now that need replacing and that are failing.
“Powerwash them out and have a look at them. There are simple things for checking slats, get a long timber with a straight edge. Put it down on the slats and you will very quickly be able to see if they are slagging – that means that they are failing. You really do need to see the underside of the slat too but you should never go into a tank. Get a cheap inspection camera with a long end on it that you can stick down through the slats.”
Oliver said: “You can’t build on to a slat – you have to build on to a beam. But that has been there for 15 or 16 years, it is not a new specification.”
Robert added: “The changes to not allow cubicle beds or wall to be built on slats were to enable them to be replaced without ripping out half of the building.”
Issues with designs
“If you don’t build it to Department specifications on the first day then yes you might have a slightly cheaper shed in the short term but is the quality there if you want it to last long term?,” asked Oliver. “You want to build a shed that is as maintenance-free as possible. Farmers don’t have the time to go doing maintenance with labour tight and cow numbers gone up and it adds considerable cost to the project.
“The standards are there to make sure the buildings are structurally sound and that they will last. One of the main issues that we are finding with TAMS applications is that people are not reading the specifications,” according to Robert. “A lot of tank designs that come in take no account of the agitation points. Pens designs are often wrong where they are too big or there is no individual access. Eave heights can also be an issue where they do not have the correct inlet or outlet ventilation.
I would admit that it is not a simple system but building isn’t simple
Issues are also seen with ventilation when it comes to extending existing buildings through the scheme. “You would be better off moving the buildings fully apart and leave a gap . You then have a passage between the two sheds. It gives you an area that you could hold cattle when you are agitating and it means that both sheds will be adequately ventilated,” Robert said.
“We cannot grant aid equipment such as a bulk tank or a dairy within a building if that overall structure has internal agitation points, so if you are extending a building, internal agitation points must be removed from that house before we can pay grant aid. However, you can apply and get grant aid to remove the internal agitation points.”
When it comes to TAMS, an underspend of funds is often cited, which is frustrating for both Oliver and Robert. “It’s very frustrating. We have €395m in our budget,” said Oliver. “However, we have approximately €200m of this committed through the 14,000 approvals through the scheme to date. We are halfway through the scheme and halfway through our approvals. If we have 20%, 30%, 40% drop off from those that got approval and don’t complete the projects it means that they will end up blocking other farmers from getting approvals. These are the applications that are messing up the system.
“If you have got approval but you are no longer going ahead with the work then contact the TAMS section and cancel the application as that immediately recycles the money into the pot. That way if we know there will be an underspend then we can take corrective action.”
“We have that money committed to farmers, from our point of view that money is spent. Farmers themselves have to go out and do the work,” Robert added.
“There is always a lag in schemes like this when it comes to payments issuing,” Oliver said, “but expenditure has really picked up with about €1.5m issuing every week. I would admit that it is not a simple system but building isn’t simple.”
Robert said: “There is a bit of work to it but if you are getting a grant of €32,000 how much time are you prepared to put in to get that much money?”
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