Almost €102m worth of payments on investments as part of TAMS II have been issued to farmers up to the end of 2018.
These payments have been received by over 7,000 participants, who have completed approved works under the grant-aid scheme.
In terms of popularity, the following is the top 10 items among farmers in terms of the number of applications:
1 Mass concrete tank – square or rectangular tank.
2 Animal housing – roofed feed passage.
3 Sheep fencing – sheep mesh with one strand of wire.
4 Milk storage and cooling – internal bulk tank volume (including auto washer and compressor).
5 Milking machine – cluster units (new machine or extension).
6 Animal housing – slatted area.
7 Mobile slurry tanker with attachment.
8 Sheep fencing - gateway.
9 In-parlour meal feeding system - meal troughs.
10 In-parlour meal feeding system - individual cow meal feeders, with augers.
Young farmers were the biggest spenders, with 46% (€47.1m) of all TAMS II expenditure coming under the young farmer capital investment scheme.
Installation of animal housing and of milking parlours were among the five most popular investments for the 1,332 beneficiaries.
Top five investments:
The second-highest amount of spending was on dairy equipment, with €23.8m spent on upgrading parlours.
There were 1,883 payments made in this section, meaning each applicant received an average of €12,600 in grant aid.
Top five investments:
There was €15.5m spread across 1,778 payments in what was the second-most popular section of TAMS II.
Spending on grazing and boundary infrastructure for sheep attracted the most applications, with spending on slats, tanks and roofing also popular.
Top five investments:
As climate change and emissions continue to dominate debate in recent months, farmers have continued to invest in low emission spreading technology.
Some €6.8m have been granted to 565 farmers to invest in new dribble bars or trailing shoes and to retrofit existing tankers.
Top five investments:
Some 458 tillage farmers have received almost €7m in TAMS funding.
Equipment that features GPS technology was among the most popular investments by these farmers.
Top five investments:
Organic farmers can apply for funding under their own section of TAMS.
To date, €1.4m has been issued across 329 payments.
With the average payment just €4,255 to these farmers, investments were smaller.
Top five investments:
Farmers in the pig and poultry sectors submitted the lowest amount of applications.
Just €0.5m in grant aid was issued to 43 beneficiaries.
With €80,000 the maximum limit on which grant aid can be paid, farmers in these sectors have called for the threshold to be raised, given the capital intensive nature of their businesses.
Top five investments:
Meal bins for beef and sheep farmers added to latest TAMS tranche