There are a number of schemes whose closing dates fall over the next two weeks. Tranche 21 of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II) closes for applications on Friday 16 April, while the closing date for the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme – Sucklers (BEEP-S) and the new Dairy Beef pilot is fast approaching on 26 April.

The closing date for the current intake of the Organics Scheme is hot on the heels of these programmes, with Friday 30 April the last day to submit applications.

TAMS II

Approvals continue to be circulated to farmers under tranche 20 of TAMS II, but there are still farmers who have not received any correspondence on their application and are waiting anxiously to hear whether or not their application has been successful before Friday’s closing date.

The fact that there is confirmation on future tranches is reducing the pressure on some farmers to get applications completed, but for those who have applications in the pipeline, there is a strong appetite to hear some feedback.

Tranche 22 of TAMS opens for applications on 17 April, with tranche 23 opening on 23 July 2021 and tranche 24 on 5 November 2021.

BEEP-S

Minister McConalogue issued a reminder message to farmers this week about the impending closing date for BEEP-S. As of Tuesday morning, there were 12,167 applications received.

This is thought to be in the region of 50% of the predicted number of applications, with 24,549 participants paid a total of €41m in the 2020 scheme year.

The scheme is identical to that which was in operation in 2020.

There is a potential payment of €90 for the first 10 cow-calf pairs in the herd and up to €80 per pair thereafter, up to a maximum of 100 head.

Mandatory weighing will reap a return of €50/€40 for each weight recorded for calves born between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021.

The option of meal feeding or vaccination of calves also commands a payment of €30 per calf, with the final €10 payment triggered through faecal egg testing of suckler cows for liver and rumen fluke.

The scheme must be applied for through the Department’s agfood.ie facility.

Dairy beef pilot

The new dairy beef calf pilot programme is also based on weight recording and submission of data. There is a payment of €20 per calf up to a maximum of 20 calves in a herd, or an overall payment of €400 per herd.

There were 1,939 applications received as of Tuesday morning, with Minister McConalogue describing this uptake as encouraging, given that it is a new scheme.

The scheme has a €5m fund allocated to it, meaning it could accommodate 12,500 herds all drawing down the maximum payment.

In the event of the scheme being oversubscribed, a linear cut will be applied.

Eligible calves are those born after 1 January 2021, sired by a beef breed and born to a dairy dam and must be at least 12 weeks of age at the time of weighing and be present on the holding for at least 10 days before weighing.

The scheme also must be applied for through agfood.ie. Producers can participate in both BEEP-S and the Dairy Beef pilot.

Organics scheme

The current intake of applications for the Organic Farming Scheme opened on 1 March and will remain open until 30 April. The funding available is expected to be able to accept in the region of 400 to 500 applications.

As detailed previously, the scheme is using selection criteria to rank applications and is heavily weighted towards incorporating horticulture, tillage and dairy producers into organics.

There is a maximum payment of €220/ha during the two-year conversion period and a maximum of €170/ha for the remaining three years of the programme.

Again, the highest payments are targeted at the three sectors the Department of Agriculture is trying to encourage greater participation from.

More details on all schemes can be found at www.farmersjournal.ie.