Confirmation of 60% grant aid under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) for female farmers in the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been welcomed as a move that will strengthen family farms, and the role of women on them.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, confirmed this week that the 60% would be allocated under the TAMS to women in farming aged 41-55 years of age.
But the age limit that has been set by the minister and his department, for eligibility to the scheme, has received some negative feedback.
This age limit means that a large cohort of female farmers will be excluded, chair of the Women in Agriculture Stakeholders Group (WASG), Hannah Quinn-Mulligan told Agriland.
“We are actively engaging with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to increase that age limit because we feel that it cuts out a key portion of women who are actively farming.
“We fully respect the need for generational renewal and we understand that there might have to be an age limit there but the age limit that is currently there will have to be increased,” she said.
This is because there are more women over the age of 80 farming in Ireland than those under the age of 40.
“So this is a huge issue in relation to getting women recognised as active farmers and as successors.”
Trained female farmers, up to the age 40, already qualify for an increased rate of grant aid of 60% under TAMS.
‘What we have now isn’t equal’
While broadly welcomed, a minority has criticised the disparity in TAMS funding announced this week for male and female farmers.
Responding to whether the 60% TAMS funding for female farmers is truly promoting gender equality – given that their male counterparts are eligible for 40% – the WASG chair said “what we have now isn’t equal either”.
The existing inequality is outlined as follows:
- Less than 4% of TAMS goes to women;
- Fewer than 500 women under 35 receive farm payments;
- Over 90% of the basic payment scheme goes to male farmers;
- Just 3.8% of farms are in joint male/female names.
“What we have at the minute isn’t equality. These [new] measures are a temporary support system in the next CAP – for one CAP cycle – to try to level the playing field.”
She added that what has been secured for female farmers are “options”.
“Nobody is forcing women to take the 60% grant and nobody is forcing women to go into female-only KT groups.
“These are just options and they are options based on the evidence that they will help to create a more level playing field for women and for men.
“There are 70,000 women working on farms, 40,000 of whom are wives. Farmers are smart enough to see that this 60% TAMS grant will benefit women and men and help to make the family farm, as a whole, stronger in the run up to an extremely challenging time for the agricultural sector,” said the WASG chair.