Applications for the Calf Investment Scheme (CIS) opened on 7 January and will remain open until 28 January. The scheme is deigned to incentivise the purchase of calf feeding equipment on farms. The CIS is open to all farmers, regardless of their main enterprise. Grant aid of 40% is available up to an investment ceiling of €7,500, meaning that a maximum grant of €3,000 per farmer can be drawn down.
The Department of Agriculture have stated that, in the event of the scheme being over-subscribed, a linear cut may apply to the amount of grant aid that can be drawn down. There is €1.5m available in the scheme, meaning that if every farmer drew down the maximum grant, 500 farmers would benefit from the scheme.
Categories
There are two categories of investment that are eligible for grant aid under the scheme and two categories of equipment that farmers can apply to the scheme for. Category A covers large items, while Category B covers smaller items. Farmers must apply for Category A equipment before they can apply for Category B equipment.
There are three types of equipment in Category A. These are; calf teat feeders (minimum six teats) with a reference cost of €14.548 per teat plus €32.545, computerised calf feeders with a reference cost of €1,534.80 per feed station plus €7,540.60 and a milk cart with mixer which has a reference cost of €6.5453 per litre of capacity plus €185.53.
Under Category A of the Calf Investment Scheme, farmers can apply for grant aid to cover large farm items such as calf teat feeders with over six teats.
Category B equipment includes lower cost items such as hay racks, meal troughs, milk heaters and dividing gates and barriers.
As the minimum level of investment is €1,000, a farmer would need to purchase six 10-teat feeders to reach the minimum investment criteria. Alternatively, the farmer could buy fewer feeders or some other items from category B, such as pen dividers and hay racks, meal troughs, etc.
Category B covers smaller farm items such as hay racks, milk heaters, milk troughs and dividing pens. Farmers must apply for items in Category A before they apply for items in Category B.
The grant aid is eligible on the lesser of the reference costs issued by the Department, or the total of eligible invoices that are marked ‘paid’.
John Farmer is a part-time suckler farmer who is thinking of supplementing his income by buying and rearing dairy beef calves. He plans to convert an existing loose house to a calf rearing facility for 50 calves. He has no penning, troughs, hay racks or teat feeders. What can he apply for under the scheme?
If we take it that each calf will need 1.5m2 of lying space, then he needs 75m2 of floor space in total. His existing loose shed is three spans wide and 5.2m deep. Each span is a standard 4.8m wide so he has exactly enough room for 50 calves. There is currently no penning in the shed, but there are walls on three sides.
There are a number of different options available to John. But in this example, he is trying to decide whether to go for a computerised feeder or manual feeding using teat feeders.
Computerised feeder
For 50 calves, John could buy a computerised calf feeder with two stations. The reference cost of this is €10,610. If he applies for this, he will get grant aid up to €7,500, or €3,000 off the cost of the computerised feeder, leaving the net cost at €7,610. He would still need to invest in penning, hay racks and meal troughs. The reference cost to construct two pens using pen dividers in the middle and front is €615. The reference cost of two 2m meal troughs is €149, while the reference cost of two hay racks is €110. The net cost of setting up this calf shed would be €8,484.
Manual feeders
For 50 calves, John could set up the shed with four or five pens. The fewer the pens you have, the less labour is involved, but the trade-off is that it becomes more difficult to feed calves when pen sizes are bigger.
Let’s presume he sets up five pens to have 10 calves per pen. He will need to buy a 12-teat feeder to comfortably feed 10 calves at once. How many feeders to buy is a decision for the farmer.
In this example, he is going to buy two feeders so he can feed two pens at a time. The reference cost of a 12-teat feeder is €208 each, so two feeders will cost €416. The next investment is a milk cart with a mixer. The reference cost of a 170l milk cart with a mixer is €1,298. The total investment in category A will be €1,714, meaning there is money available under the grant to invest in penning and other equipment.
If we presume he is going to install feed barriers towards the front of the pens, the reference cost for this is €750.
The reference cost of three dividing pens (there are walls at each end) is €489. Five hay racks and five 2m meal troughs will be required. These have a reference cost of €275 and €374 respectively. The total amount of eligible items in category B will be €1,399. If we add category A investments to category B investments we get €3,113. John is able to claim the 40% grant on this, meaning the net cost of setting up the calf shed with manual feeding will be €1,868.
However, this cost does not include the cost of water heaters. In this case, a 100l water heater would be sufficient. It generally costs about €4.50 per litre of capacity of an electric water heater.
Therefore, the cost of a 100l tank would be €450, which is not eligible for grant aid, thus increasing the total cost of the investment to €2,318.
In the two examples, it was presumed that the reference costs were the costs used to calculate the grant. If the actual cost of the investment came in lower than the reference costs, then it is these costs that will be used to calculate the grant.
The difference in cost between the two options is €6,166. The increased capital cost, plus increased running costs (electricity consumption, repairs and maintenance) of the computerised feeder, needs to be weighed against the fact that it has a lower labour requirement compared to the manual feeding of calves.
However, even on twice-a-day feeding, the system of manually feeding calves should be very labour efficient. The process involves adding hot and cold water to the milk cart, adding the required amount of milk replacer, turning on the mixer, feeding the milk to the five pens and then washing the feeding equipment after use. It’s a job that shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes morning and evening.
It’s all about time. If the farmer can use the time saved by the computerised feeder to generate more revenue elsewhere, or free up time for leisure, then it may be worth the extra cost.
Read more
Preparing for a lean spring
Dairy management: calves, commodity prices and hedging
Applications for the Calf Investment Scheme (CIS) opened on 7 January and will remain open until 28 January. The scheme is deigned to incentivise the purchase of calf feeding equipment on farms. The CIS is open to all farmers, regardless of their main enterprise. Grant aid of 40% is available up to an investment ceiling of €7,500, meaning that a maximum grant of €3,000 per farmer can be drawn down.
The Department of Agriculture have stated that, in the event of the scheme being over-subscribed, a linear cut may apply to the amount of grant aid that can be drawn down. There is €1.5m available in the scheme, meaning that if every farmer drew down the maximum grant, 500 farmers would benefit from the scheme.
Categories
There are two categories of investment that are eligible for grant aid under the scheme and two categories of equipment that farmers can apply to the scheme for. Category A covers large items, while Category B covers smaller items. Farmers must apply for Category A equipment before they can apply for Category B equipment.
There are three types of equipment in Category A. These are; calf teat feeders (minimum six teats) with a reference cost of €14.548 per teat plus €32.545, computerised calf feeders with a reference cost of €1,534.80 per feed station plus €7,540.60 and a milk cart with mixer which has a reference cost of €6.5453 per litre of capacity plus €185.53.
Under Category A of the Calf Investment Scheme, farmers can apply for grant aid to cover large farm items such as calf teat feeders with over six teats.
Category B equipment includes lower cost items such as hay racks, meal troughs, milk heaters and dividing gates and barriers.
As the minimum level of investment is €1,000, a farmer would need to purchase six 10-teat feeders to reach the minimum investment criteria. Alternatively, the farmer could buy fewer feeders or some other items from category B, such as pen dividers and hay racks, meal troughs, etc.
Category B covers smaller farm items such as hay racks, milk heaters, milk troughs and dividing pens. Farmers must apply for items in Category A before they apply for items in Category B.
The grant aid is eligible on the lesser of the reference costs issued by the Department, or the total of eligible invoices that are marked ‘paid’.
John Farmer is a part-time suckler farmer who is thinking of supplementing his income by buying and rearing dairy beef calves. He plans to convert an existing loose house to a calf rearing facility for 50 calves. He has no penning, troughs, hay racks or teat feeders. What can he apply for under the scheme?
If we take it that each calf will need 1.5m2 of lying space, then he needs 75m2 of floor space in total. His existing loose shed is three spans wide and 5.2m deep. Each span is a standard 4.8m wide so he has exactly enough room for 50 calves. There is currently no penning in the shed, but there are walls on three sides.
There are a number of different options available to John. But in this example, he is trying to decide whether to go for a computerised feeder or manual feeding using teat feeders.
Computerised feeder
For 50 calves, John could buy a computerised calf feeder with two stations. The reference cost of this is €10,610. If he applies for this, he will get grant aid up to €7,500, or €3,000 off the cost of the computerised feeder, leaving the net cost at €7,610. He would still need to invest in penning, hay racks and meal troughs. The reference cost to construct two pens using pen dividers in the middle and front is €615. The reference cost of two 2m meal troughs is €149, while the reference cost of two hay racks is €110. The net cost of setting up this calf shed would be €8,484.
Manual feeders
For 50 calves, John could set up the shed with four or five pens. The fewer the pens you have, the less labour is involved, but the trade-off is that it becomes more difficult to feed calves when pen sizes are bigger.
Let’s presume he sets up five pens to have 10 calves per pen. He will need to buy a 12-teat feeder to comfortably feed 10 calves at once. How many feeders to buy is a decision for the farmer.
In this example, he is going to buy two feeders so he can feed two pens at a time. The reference cost of a 12-teat feeder is €208 each, so two feeders will cost €416. The next investment is a milk cart with a mixer. The reference cost of a 170l milk cart with a mixer is €1,298. The total investment in category A will be €1,714, meaning there is money available under the grant to invest in penning and other equipment.
If we presume he is going to install feed barriers towards the front of the pens, the reference cost for this is €750.
The reference cost of three dividing pens (there are walls at each end) is €489. Five hay racks and five 2m meal troughs will be required. These have a reference cost of €275 and €374 respectively. The total amount of eligible items in category B will be €1,399. If we add category A investments to category B investments we get €3,113. John is able to claim the 40% grant on this, meaning the net cost of setting up the calf shed with manual feeding will be €1,868.
However, this cost does not include the cost of water heaters. In this case, a 100l water heater would be sufficient. It generally costs about €4.50 per litre of capacity of an electric water heater.
Therefore, the cost of a 100l tank would be €450, which is not eligible for grant aid, thus increasing the total cost of the investment to €2,318.
In the two examples, it was presumed that the reference costs were the costs used to calculate the grant. If the actual cost of the investment came in lower than the reference costs, then it is these costs that will be used to calculate the grant.
The difference in cost between the two options is €6,166. The increased capital cost, plus increased running costs (electricity consumption, repairs and maintenance) of the computerised feeder, needs to be weighed against the fact that it has a lower labour requirement compared to the manual feeding of calves.
However, even on twice-a-day feeding, the system of manually feeding calves should be very labour efficient. The process involves adding hot and cold water to the milk cart, adding the required amount of milk replacer, turning on the mixer, feeding the milk to the five pens and then washing the feeding equipment after use. It’s a job that shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes morning and evening.
It’s all about time. If the farmer can use the time saved by the computerised feeder to generate more revenue elsewhere, or free up time for leisure, then it may be worth the extra cost.
Read more
Preparing for a lean spring
Dairy management: calves, commodity prices and hedging
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