All eligible applications made for tranche one of the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme III (TAMS) will be approved for grant aid, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has confirmed.

Tranche one of TAMS III saw the highest ever number of applications for a single tranche of the scheme, at 8,241.

However, with approval letters yet to issue to farmers, those wishing to seek priority approval for slurry storage or animal welfare investments must write to the Department of Agriculture arguing their case for priority.

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These farmers only have until tomorrow Friday, 15 September to have letters received by the On-Farm Investment Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Johnstown Castle Estate, Wexford, Y35 PN52.

Hand-delivered letters will not be accepted and it has been recommended that letters are posted no later than Thursday, meaning farmers will only have had a week to write and post their letters from when the priority system was announced.

Around half of all investments applied for are mobile investments which can be bought after an application is made, although there is no guarantee grant aid will be received if a mistake was made on an application.

IFA rural development chair Michael Biggins welcomed the acceptance of all eligible farmers but said many who applied for mobile investments will “want to wait until they have an approval letter in their hand before going out and buying”.

“The big number of applications was to be expected because the reference costs were so out of kilter at the end of the last TAMS,” said Biggins.

“It was not surprising to see so many applications with the length the tranche ran for and the system should have been suited to it. Farmers shouldn’t have been left hanging.”