A total of 259 female farmers have applied for the Department of Agriculture’s Women Farmer Capital Investment Scheme, figures from the Department of Agriculture show.

The scheme falls under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) and provides increased grant rates for female farmers to upgrade farm buildings and equipment.

Grant aid is paid at a rate of 60% up to a a maximum of €90,000 per holding.

Cork had the highest number of applications to the scheme, with 57 farmers applying. It was followed by Galway with 26 and Tipperary with 25.

Twenty farmers in Wexford applied to the scheme, while 13 applied in both Waterford and Kilkenny. All counties except for Dublin had at least one application to the scheme.

Young farmer scheme

Meanwhile, a total of 441 young farmers have applied to the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme under TAMS.

Unexpectedly, due to higher farmer numbers, Cork had the highest number of applications with 69 and it was followed by Galway with 36, Kilkenny with 31 and Tipperary with 29.

As is the case with the women’s TAMS scheme, grant aid is paid at the rate of 60% up to a maximum of €90,000 per holding.

Multiple applications per tranche are allowed. However, the minimum amount of investment which is eligible for approval under this scheme is €2,000 per application.