The Association of Farm Contractors of Ireland (FCI) claims that retaining young machine operators and providing them with guidance and experience to develop their skills to a high level is a major challenge for farm contractors in Ireland.
FCI has identified the urgent need for a seasonal income tax incentive scheme to allow farmers’ sons and daughters to work with a locally-based farm contractor during the seasonal summer months and then to revert back to farm work during the lower demand winter period. FCI proposes that the minister include a special tax refund for seasonal workers who go back to work on a family farm having worked with a local farm contractor.
Fast-track system
For those workers who are not part of a family farm and who have access to seasonal work opportunities with farm contractors, FCI believes that there is a need to develop a fast-track system to allow them to more easily sign-off and sign-on to the social welfare system. Richard White, national chair of FCI said: “The current system where it can take up to 10 weeks to sign back on to the unemployment system at the end of a season is discouraging some very skilful operators from using their knowledge and experience to ensure that farm mechanization skills are provided at their best in support of an efficient and sustainable farming industry.”
FCI claims that this proposal will serve to make working in a rural-based farm contractor business a more attractive seasonal employment option and provide an opportunity to support declining farm incomes that are having a detrimental effect on the numbers of young people entering farming.
National register of farm contractors
FCI is also seeking a national register of farm contractors who should have access to an Accelerated Investment Allowances (AIA’s) system to allow them to invest in high-capital cost machinery. Many of these expensive machines have a relatively short working life of 3 to 5 years in typical Irish conditions, which is shorter than the current allowed write-down period of 8 years. The benefit of an AIA is to accelerate the timing of the tax relief by providing 100% tax relief for qualifying capital expenditure in the accounting period in which the expenditure is actually incurred.
Richard White said: “Fuel savings of up to 15% have been shown in the use of the modern Tier 4 tractor and harvester engines, with lower CO2 emissions. Improving the environmental quality of the contractor’s national tractor and machinery fleet would also contribute to a lowering of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by Irish agriculture.”
“The replacement rate of grass harvesting machinery is not in line with the demands of the Food Wise 2025 objectives. This can only be changed by the use of AIA’s to encourage much-needed investment,” said FCI chair Richard White.
FCI is also looking for contractors to be grant aided for the purchase of new low GHG slurry emission machinery. They are also seeking a Carbon Tax rebate tax deduction and looking for a farm machine driver’s meal tax allowance, similar to what is offered to truck drivers.