The Tillage Capital Investment Scheme is now open for applications. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine made the announcement on 23 May.

Tranche one of the TAMS III scheme is open now and closes on 16 June. Tranche two will open the following day, 17 June.

Grant aid will be paid on approved, completed and eligible expenditure at a rate of 40% to a maximum ceiling of €90,000 per holding.

This is a €10,000 increase on the last scheme and all farmers start from zero again. Partnerships have a ceiling of €160,000.

Increased grant aid is available for young farmers, women farmers in some cases and organic farmers.

The scheme is subject to ranking and selection. A marking sheet has been developed and young farmers and those who are in the Protein Aid Scheme and Straw Incorporation Measure are set to receive high marks in this process.

Food Vision

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said he is looking forward to receiving a report from the new Food Vision 2030 tillage group to work towards increasing the tillage area in the country to 400,000ha.

He said: “I am delighted to launch the Tillage Capital Investment Scheme, which is an important support for the tillage and potato sectors.

"This scheme will assist tillage farmers seeking to invest in reducing inputs such as pesticides and fertilisers, maintaining soil quality through minimum cultivation techniques while supporting the maintenance of tillage as a land use in Ireland.

“Tillage farmers may also avail of relevant investments in the other TAMS III schemes, such as slurry storage and LESS equipment.

”The tillage sector is an important and integral component of the agri-food industry making a significant contribution to overall agricultural output. It is a sector I firmly believe in and is a sector that I want to see grow and develop further.

"The importance of the sector is underpinned by the Food Vision 2030 strategy and the Climate Action Plan 2023, where a target is set out to increase the area in tillage to 400,000ha by 2030 and I look forward to the report of the group in due course," he added.

Eligible items

For a full breakdown on what you can apply for under the scheme, click here.

New welcome additions to the scheme include weighing equipment and a half-tonne bag filler and beet cleaning equipment, which may encourage farm-to-farm trading.

Farm groups have been calling for more equipment to be made available under the scheme to allow farmers to start a new tillage enterprise, such as grain trailers and combines.