The Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) has claimed that the new Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) is an “outright declaration of war” on all agricultural contractors.
Due to the ongoing exclusion of contractors from the scheme, the FCI said the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has “targeted the total elimination” of the sector by undermining profitability.
The association has called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, to include contractors in the €370 million scheme, details of which were announced yesterday (Monday, February 20).
Tranche 1 of the new TAMS will open on Wednesday (February 22) with solar panels on farms being the first available investment.
The other investments will become available on a phased basis during Tranche 1 which will close on June 16.
FCI
In a letter to Minister McConalogue, the FCI said that the new scheme gives an unfair advantage to farmers over contractors.
“The TAMS 3 scheme, as now announced, provides farmers with virtually free machines in order to put agricultural contractors out of business,” John Hughes, FCI national chair, claimed.
According to Teagasc, Irish farmers spent an average of €5,682 on contractor services in 2021.
“DAFM is operating uniquely in a vacuum developing schemes as if agricultural contracting does not exist within the Irish farming network,” FCI said.
“This approach is both blatantly discriminatory and blatantly anti-competitive,” the association added.
The FCI said that the 1,500 agricultural contractors registered with the association work on an average of three farms daily.
This amounts to 4,500 farmer and agricultural contractor interactions each day or 27,000 each week of the working season.
“The message is clear, FCI agricultural contractors are in touch with their farmer clients, understanding their needs and challenges and have a direct financial interdependence with the successful performance on the farm,” Hughes said.
In its letter to Minister McConalogue, the FCI said that the new TAMS should have prioritised the construction of additional slurry and silage storage capacity on farms.
“Our members have been forced to work on dangerously high silage pits putting themselves and their skilled operators at risk.
“Again, this new TAMS 3 grant scheme does not prioritise the construction of additional silage storage capacity over machinery investment which is a second blatant omission of what should have been another absolute priority,” Hughes said.
The FCI has also questioned the potential environmental impact of additional grant-aided machinery in TAMS 3.
“At a time when global natural resources are both scarce and expensive, at FCI we consider providing grant aid to encourage farmers to purchase more machinery for their own farm use, as in TAMS 3, rather than supporting agricultural contractors to use similar equipment over more farms, to be a form of unnecessary environmental terrorism.
“The DAFM needs to access the carbon load associated with the manufacture of each of these additional machines and tractors, at a time when there are more than enough machines in Irish agricultural contractor fleets which are currently available to work on Irish farms,” Hughes said.
Contractors
The FCI believes that TAMS 3, as it is currently devised, will “simply put many agricultural contractors out of business”.
“FCI has received many calls from many members in recent days, where they have expressed their total disillusionment with their sector due to lack of grant support while their client farmers are getting significant support, even up to €250,000 for a self-propelled sprayer,” Hughes said.
“The contribution of the agricultural contractor sector must be recognised by DAFM.
“There must be a political will to support the sector or witness its rapid demise as machinery investment costs soar, while charge rates remain stifled by uncompetitive players supported by DAFM TAMS 3 grant aid and tax avoidance opportunities.
“DAFM already holds a register of farm improvement contractors, so providing a register of professional agricultural contractors is well within the scope of DAFM management,” Hughes added.
FCI said that an independently audited national register for farm and forestry contractors would facilitate improved standards and continuous professional development in the sector.