IFA urges approval of TAMS applications at Charter of Rights meeting

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said it’s “absolutely essential” that the maximum number of applicants in tranche 19 of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) are approved as soon as possible, to provide certainty to farmers who are planning to carry out work.

Deputy president of the organisation, Brian Rushe, made the comments at a recent Charter of Rights meeting with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

IFA Rural Development Committee chairman Michael Biggins welcomed confirmation that payment of the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) balancing payment will commence this week.

He stressed the importance of paying the remaining farmers as soon as they meet their stocking density requirements, which the department confirmed happens on a weekly basis.

The IFA said that farmers will be paid as soon as they meet the required stocking density, which in some cases will run to the end of the year.

Application forms

Michael Biggins also called on the department to pay the ANC payment to farmers who omitted, in error, to tick the ANC box on their Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) application this year.

A system where a farmer has to ‘opt out’ rather than ‘opt in’ would ensure there are fewer errors when submitting applications.

IFA deputy president Brian Rushe welcomed the payment of the BPS balancing payment which commenced last week: “The department also confirmed [that] the issue around transfer of entitlement, which held up payments to around 1,000 farmers, has been resolved for most at this stage and the remaining ones will be resolved in the next week.”

IFA livestock chairman Brendan Golden has welcomed DAFM facilitation of farmers who made ‘draft applications’ to Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme – Suckler (BEEP-S) scheme and who had operated under the impression they were participating in the scheme by carrying out measures on their farms.

Beef Finishers Payment

Regarding the Beef Finishers Payment, Brendan Golden again called for cattle exported for slaughter in the reference period, to be paid on from the surplus in the Beef Finishers Payment fund.

Golden also raised the issue of the increase in the organic nitrogen calculation for dairy cows from 85kg to 89kg from January 1 next.

He said it cannot be applied to the overall nitrates level for the farm for the purposes of determining compliance with the 5% reduction requirement for farmers in the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) scheme who have dairy-bred cows on their farms.

The IFA has welcomed a commitment from the Department of Agriculture that a tolerance on meeting the 90% of the female replacement criteria in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) scheme will be provided.

He said the IFA has had detailed discussions with the department on the issue and the acceptance now of farmers who are within one animal of meeting the 90% requirement, as being 90% compliant, will significantly reduce the penalties for these farmers.