Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has announced the opening of the third Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS).
TAMS provides funding for capital investments on farms and will be in place for five years with a budget of €370 million, as reported by Agriland over the weekend.
Tranche 1 of the scheme 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.
As reported on Saturday (February 18), there are a number of new additions to the TAMS programme, including increased grant aid rates, investment ceilings, new investments, and new support categories.
This includes an enhanced grant rate of 60%, compared to a rate of 40% in the previous TAMS, for investments for low emission slurry spreading (LESS) equipment, organic capital investments, and farm safety investments.
In order to encourage the purchase of solar investments, the solar scheme will be ringfenced with its own investment ceiling of €90,000 and will be grant aided at the enhanced rate of 60%. Furthermore, the size of the solar project that can be covered under TAMS has been increased from 12kW to 60kW.
Under the new TAMS, the ceiling for solar investment will be reset to €90,000 per holding for the duration of the scheme. Farmers who benefitted under the previous TAMS can reapply in full under the new scheme.
Commenting on the solar energy provisions, the minister said: “The scheme will enable every farmer to generate their own power for their dwelling and holding, and will help to achieve a more sustainable rural economy, assisting farmers in reducing energy costs on their holdings.”
In addition, Minister McConalogue has confirmed that the ceiling for investment for the pig and poultry strand of support will increase to €500,000. Along with the solar panels, the LESS equipment will continue to have its own standalone investment ceiling.
This TAMS programme will run for five years and will include 10 schemes; it will open for receipt of applications on a phased basis by scheme.
Following the opening of the solar scheme this week, the animal welfare and nutrient storage scheme will follow by mid-March, and the remaining schemes will be open for applications on a phased basis by the end of May.
It is anticipated that the first tranche for all schemes will close on June 16. All applications will go through a ranking and selection process after the closing date.
In addition to the changes outlined above, the new TAMS also includes the following new investments:
- Cattle underpasses;
- Farm roadways;
- Bovine fencing;
- Health and fertility monitoring;
- Automatic drafting system;
- Milk recording equipment;
- Backup power take-off (PTO) generator;
- Upgrade of water supply on farms with solar and nose pumps;
- Pasture management machinery, including soil aerators, as well as mulchers;
- Equine housing;
- Equine training facilities;
- Equine fencing;
- New investments around lighting, drinkers, and ventilation for the poultry sector;
- Investments to assist the potato sector around storing and handling are to be included, along with handling equipment for other crops;
- Biomass storage and handling equipment is to be included to support renewable energy;
- A range of pesticide reduction equipment for the tillage sector, including interrow cultivators and weather stations.