The deadline for applications for tranche 22 of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II) is set to close this Friday, July 23.
For farmers looking to get an application in for this tranche, time is running out.
However, fear not, as tranche 23 is set to open after this deadline on Friday and is set to stay open, according to the department, until the beginning of November.
Uptake of the scheme, despite rising building material costs, has been very strong, with tranche 21, which closed on April 16, seeing a total of 3,142 applications received.
While 1,153 applications were rolled over from tranche 21, therefore, a total of 4,295 applications were and still are under consideration under this current tranche (22) – which closes this Friday (July 23).
Despite the rising building material costs as already mentioned, Agriland, over the past while has been speaking to building contractors and suppliers of building materials, who have said they are extremely busy currently – with a number of jobs being juggled at the one time.
Investment on farms – National Farm Survey
The Teagasc National Farm Survey highlighted that gross new investment on Irish farms increased by 5% in 2020.
On aggregate, this totalled over €1 billion across the farms represented by the survey. Investment on dairy farms was highest, at an average spend of €30,585 per farm.
As such, investment on dairy farms accounted for almost half of total investment in 2020. That said, investment on dairy farms was down 11% compared to 2019.
Investment increased across drystock farms in 2020, following a number of years of decline, the survey notes.
However, on average, amounts invested across these systems were far below that of the average dairy farm.
Investment on tillage farms decreased substantially in 2020, down 40% on average, to €11,014 per farm.