There have been several questions over the last couple of weeks regarding the closing date for the current tranche of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II).

Tranche 28 opened for applications on 24 September 2022 and will remain open until 16 December 2022.

This is the final tranche of the current TAMS II scheme and this will be replaced in the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 by the On-Farm Capital Investment Scheme.

The scheme will have a similar budget of almost €400m over the next five years and will also operate in a rolling tranche application system.

Eligible investments

There were a number of questions on the items eligible for investment in this week’s CAP meeting.

This follows previous proposals in draft CAP documents to exclude dairy milking equipment from any future scheme.

Speaking in Cork on Tuesday evening, John Muldowney from the Department of Agriculture told farmers that all investment items currently in TAMS II are being reviewed along with a significant number of new items.

He said that the focus at present was on the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme and the Organic Farming Scheme and that progress on the On-Farm Capital Investment Scheme will be made in the coming weeks.

Level of grant aid

A few changes about the level of grant aid funding have come to light.

The investment ceiling on which grant aid is paid is increasing from €80,000 to €90,000, with the standard rate of grant aid remaining at 40%.

There will be a higher rate of 60% grant aid for organic farming participants, young farmers and women farmers.

There will be a higher investment ceiling of €160,000 for partnerships and a higher rate of €200,000 is being proposed for pig and poultry producers.

The separate low emissions slurry spreading (LESS) equipment entry route will have an investment ceiling of €40,000 and €60,000 for partnerships.

There is a 50% rate of grant aid for LESS equipment and 40% for mobile slurry tankers and umbilical pumps proposed.