Teagasc has increased fees for farmer clients who take part in the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II) by up to €175 in cases.

A farmer who does their paperwork through Teagasc for the young farmer capital investment scheme in TAMS II will now have to pay €975 for that work – an increase of €175 on last year.

Farmers doing large projects with planning in the organic, tillage and animal welfare safety and nutrient storage schemes will also now have to pay €975.

Farmers engaging in smaller-scale projects, with no planning, under the tillage and animal welfare schemes will now have to pay €300 – an increase of €135 on last year.

The €135 hike in fees to €300 will also apply to farmers who take part in the dairy equipment and low-emission slurry spreading schemes.

Club costs

Meanwhile, Teagasc has also increased the price its farmer clients have to pay for its core contract club support packages.

The Teagasc club support package includes limited phone contact, office assistance with annual farm review consultation (includes basic BPS application if required), plus invitations to events/newsletters/ Today’s Farm. No on-farm visit is included in this package, but it does include basic inspection support when it arises.

For a farmer with zero to 50 income units (IU) in the core Teagasc club package, the fee has increased by €10 to €155 on 2017 levels. The core and derogation package has also increased by €5 for all farmers.

A Teagasc spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal that TAMS fees increased because the time taken to complete plans and the time taken to draw down plans is much greater than originally planned.

“Much of this work is contracted out and we were unable to get contractors to continue work for the original charges.

“With regard to the club contract fee, the increase is €5 for most clients, which is a modest increase of less than 2%, and an increase of €10 for 0-50 income unit (IU) clients.

“This again is to cover more complex cases which take more time, and to cover general inflation,” the spokesperson said.