The first of the TAMS II farm building grant schemes was launched by Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney last week and will open for applications next Thursday, 28 May.

The scheme is for young farmers who recently set up in farming and they will receive a special 60% grant rate. The scheme – named the Young Farmers’ Capital Investment Scheme or YFS – will give them grant aid for a long list of investment items covering most farm enterprises.

Over coming weeks, Minister Coveney will launch a number of additional TAMS II schemes targeted at other farmers and offering a 40% grant rate. He is expected to announce a dairy equipment scheme next week.

The YFS is open to applicants who meet the following main conditions:

  • Aged between 18 and 40 at time of applying.
  • Set up in farming in the five years before applying.
  • Have agricultural training or obtain it within 36 months of getting approval under the scheme to start investment work.
  • Have a minimum of 5ha owned or leased which has been declared for Basic Payment or the previous EU Single Payment Scheme. Farmers with intensive enterprises are eligible once they generate a minimum of 20 production units.
  • The scheme pays a 20% top-up grant on top of the general 40% rate. The minimum investment amount is €2,000 excluding VAT and the maximum is €80,000. This means the minimum grant payable is about €1,200 and the maximum is €48,000. Farmers can apply a number of times to this scheme or to other TAMS II schemes over the six years of the scheme but will not receive more than the €48,000 maximum grant amount in that period.

    Cattle farmers

    For drystock cattle farmers, the YFS will grant aid winter housing including loose and slatted houses, lie-back areas, calving pen areas and bull pens. It will grant-aid feed passages in these sheds, roofed and unroofed, and roofing of an existing feed yard.

    The scheme covers cattle handling units including a permanent chute, skulling gate and back gate, barriers and gates for enclosing pens around the chute and, if wanted, a roof over it. It also covers mobile cattle handling equipment including a mobile crush and penning.

    Effluent

    For effluent control the scheme will cover manure pits, underground and overground tanks, lined lagoons and pre-cast tanks.

    To raise safety levels it covers – where relevant – the protective fence around an open slurry store and safety agitation platforms. It will grant aid a new cover over an existing open tank and replacement of a tank extension cover.

    The scheme covers replacement of damaged slats and removal of an existing internal agitation point and its replacement by an external one. It covers installation of a simple aeration system or a circulation pipe in the bottom of a slurry tank to help agitation.

    It covers slurry tankers fitted with trailing shoe, shallow injection and dribble bar systems. A dribble bar can be retrofitted to an existing slurry tanker.

    Dairy farmers

    For young dairy farmers, the scheme grant aids the milking parlour and dairy buildings, the milking machine including robotic and rotary. It grant aids the collecting yard, open or roofed over, plus associated gates and barriers.

    Also grant-aided are the bulk tank and cooling equipment, water heater, an in-parlour meal feeder and a meal bin.

    Sheep farmers

    For sheep farmers it will grant aid slatted and bedded winter housing. Mobile sheep handling equipment is covered.

    Safety items

    The scheme grant aids most of the items that were eligible in the recent TAMS I Farm Safety Scheme. This includes sliding doors to replace hinged ones, safety rails on silo walls, rewiring sheds, etc.

    Pig and poultry

    The scheme grant aids a range of investment items for pig and poultry farmers focused on reduction in energy use and improved stock health.