Young farmers will be able to make more than one application for grant aid to the TAMS II Young Farmers Scheme (YFS), which will run to 2020.

However, any second or subsequent applications will have to be made within the five-year window of their setting up in farming. This is the fundamental condition of the YFS, which pays an enhanced 60% grant rate.

Any young farmer who passes the five-year point or turns 41 years then becomes ineligible for the YFS and, if they want grant aid, will have to instead apply to the general TAMS II schemes. They will give grant aid for similar items but at the standard 40% rate.

Meanwhile, all farmers applying to TAMS II schemes face the overall investment ceiling of €80,000.

Another detail that has emerged this week is that there will be no internal investment ceiling on milking and milk cooling equipment, as was the case in TAMS I. So in TAMS II a farmer can invest up to €80,000 on a milking machine and – if a young farmer – get up to 60% grant aid on it.

For partnerships, the TAMS II ceiling doubles to €160,000. If both partners are qualifying young farmers, they can be grant aided at 60%. But if only one is a qualifying young farmer and the other a general applicant – as in a typical father/son partnership – the son can get 60% grant aid on up to €80,000 and the father can get 40% on up to €80,000.

This is expected to incentivise partnerships over the next few years. Partnerships can claim the maximum GLAS €5,000 annual payment for each partner and also benefit under the Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme.

Last week, Ministers Coveney and Hayes announced that the Young Farmers Scheme would open for applications today (Thursday). However, with all IT personnel in the Department of Agriculture concentrating this week on getting in online applications for GLAS, the Basic Payment Scheme, Greening, BDGS and ANC by tomorrow’s deadline, it could be Monday next, 1 June, or shortly after, before the YFS goes live. This first application tranche will run for three months, closing at the end of August.

It also appears that it could be July before remaining TAMS II schemes open. These will cater for farmers over 40 years old or who for any other reason don’t qualify for the YFS. These schemes are expected to include a dairy equipment scheme, an organic farmers’ scheme and a general scheme covering all other farmers, including dry cattle and sheep farmers.

Attention over the past week focused on farmers under 40 years of age but not eligible for the new scheme as they were deemed to be more than five years set up in farming. The farm organisations point out that there could be as many as 5,000 in this position. These include farmers who obtained a herd number more than five years ago but did not immediately start farming and are in practice not yet farming five years.

IFA VIEW

IFA Rural Development Committee chair Flor McCarthy urged the Department to open this scheme to all young farmers. He also called on the Department to extend the list of investment items to include silage bases, machinery sheds, hay sheds, sheep fencing and grain stores.