Both trailed and mounted fertiliser spreaders with full GPS control will be covered for grant aid in the current tranche of the TAMS II tillage scheme. Originally the GPS equipment for spreaders was only covered for grant aid in the scheme and fertiliser spreaders were omitted.

According to the Department of Agriculture specifications, all fertilizer spreaders must be fitted with a GPS control unit, weigh cells, automatic rate control, variable width spreading capability and headland control to be grant-aided.

The fertilizer control unit must be able to control the rate of fertilizer application and the width of spread to both left and right independently. In addition, the system must control the turning on and off of the fertilizer spreader when approaching and leaving a headland.

The unit must be able to undertake all controls while the fertilizer spreader is in operation in the field. Spreaders must have at least four nominal application widths, which can be switched between while in motion.

Grant aid

Grant aid is paid at a rate of 40% for general applicants or 60% for qualifying young trained farmers up to an investment ceiling of €80,000.

Mounted fertilizer spreaders are those that are designed to be mounted directly on to a tractor, even if they are placed on a bogey (the bogey itself is not covered in the scheme). They must have a capacity of between 1,000 and 4,500 litres.

The reference cost for these machines depends on its capacity. The cost is calculated by use of the equation given, where x= the capacity of the mounted fertilizer spreader in litres, and y = the cost of the fertilizer spreader.

For example, if the proposed mounted fertilizer spreader has a capacity of 2,200l, to get the cost of the mounted fertilizer spreader multiply 2,200 by 1.06 and then add 17,600. This gives a cost of €19,932.00 for the mounted fertilizer spreader, grant aid is usually paid as a percentage of the reference cost.

Trailed fertilizer spreaders must be specifically designed as trailed machines and must have a minimum capacity of 5,500 litres. The reference cost for trailed fertiliser spreaders is €67,500, excluding VAT.

Read more

Full coverage: TAMS II