With the unpredictable weather, tillage farmers have to be able to react quickly to changing conditions and cover large areas of ground as efficiently as possible. Many farmers have used the Tillage Capital Investment Scheme (TCIS), which is one strand of TAMS (Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme), to upgrade their equipment.

This week, we examine just how TCIS is progressing, including how much money is still available to tillage farmers through the scheme.

In the early years of the schemes, many of the investments made were for smaller items such as minimum disturbance equipment. However, in the past year more farmers have turned towards fertiliser spreaders and sprayers fitted with GPS control. These not only have the opportunity to increase efficiency but also help to combat fatigue.

We also talk to potato and grain farmer Bart Maertens who has made the switch to precision farming with the help of TAMS, while on page 53 we are out with Graham Sixsmith who recently purchased a new 10t fertiliser spreader fitted with full GPS section control.

Stephen Robb visits a purpose-built sprayer filling area with a chemical store. The store ticks all of the boxes for chemical storage requirements. Over the past year, we have seen more and more items added to the list of eligible investments through TAMS and with a substantial amount of funding left in the pot. We talk to tillage farmers about what they would like to see added to the list of eligible items and how these investments could benefit tillage farmers.

Low-emission slurry spreading equipment is another strand of TAMS that is of particular interest to tillage farmers and on page 56 we examine the reference costs of these investments.