A €2.5 million dedicated farm safety budget will facilitate an expansion of farmer safety, health and wellbeing supports, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Martin Heydon has said.
Budget 2023 will deliver additional resources to the minister’s priority areas of research and farm safety, including a €20 million research fund to ensure continued delivery of solutions for farmers.
The introduction of more physical safety infrastructure on farms will be a priority for Minister Heydon, who stressed the importance of the increased farm safety budget announced today (Wednesday, September 28).
“Unfortunately, 10 people have lost their lives in fatal farm incidents this year. That is 10 too many – 10 farms, families and communities left devastated.
“We know farm safety is inextricably linked to farmer health and wellbeing. That is why I plan to extend the On Feirm Ground initiative from farms’ advisors to other professionals working with farmers next year.
“Next year there will be a €90 million budget for the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS), and I have sought a 60% grant rate for farm safety investments which will be subject to EU approval,” the minister said.
Over 4,500 non-fatal incidents happen on farms in Ireland every year, and over half of all incidents involve livestock, according to recent figures from Teagasc.
Therefore, Minister Heydon wants to make it more feasible for farmers to invest in better animal handling units and calving pens.
To assist farmers in making best use of the higher TAMS grant rate, the minister said work will be undertaken to create a resource for farmers on best design practice for animal handling units and calving pens.
He added that there will also be additional funding through the European Innovation Partnership Scheme (EIPs) to support locally led farm safety projects.
Research fund
Delivering solutions through research will be a central part in ensuring a competitive, sustainable and strong agriculture industry, according to Minister Heydon.
The minister said the announcement of the €20 million research fund today comes ahead of a significant call for new projects next year.
“This [the fund] will ensure a steady pipeline of climate solutions for the sector in the coming years, giving us time to implement the science and technology that is available to us today,” he said.
Research and innovation are identified as key pillars in the Food Vision 2030 strategy, according to Minister Heydon, who pointed to the important role DAFM-funded research has played to date, including the RumenPredict project in 2016.
Teagasc and other collaborators were able to identify traits in beef cattle that allow for the selection of low methane-emitting cattle without impacting animal productivity and farm profitability.
“We are now in a position to incorporate this metric into our national breeding strategies. Building on that, in our 2019 call we funded METH-ABATE which is right now testing novel feed additives, and validating their ability to reduce methane emissions from our pasture-based system.
“This demonstrates the research pipeline in action, and accelerating our investment in research will help us reach sectoral emission targets. The projects we fund next year will deliver further solutions in the second half of this decade,” Minister Heydon said.