Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 February 2023
731. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will clarify the basis for introducing a 120-cow limit to herds for those seeking TAMS funding for milking parlour facilities; if his attention has been drawn to reports that this limit has given rise to significant concern among young farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8591/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have introduced some changes to TAMS under the TAMs 3 scheme to better align it with overall agriculture and environmental priorities. For applications under the Dairy Equipment Capital Investment Scheme, Women Farmers Capital Investment Scheme and Organic Capital Investment Scheme, applicants may apply for up to 10 milking units in a herringbone parlour, or one robotic milking machine, if they have less than 120 cows on average over the year preceding the making of an application. This ensures that priority goes to the family farm.
For applicants under the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (YFCIS) and also for registered farm partnerships involving a young farmer, the limit on cow numbers for the preceding year is set at 160 dairy cows.
I can also confirm that the limit relates only to the milking machine investments and does not apply to any other investments under any of the 10 Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS 3) that are being put in place. Almost 80% of all dairy herds in the country will remain eligible to apply for milking machine investments under the 120 cow ceiling.
When a farmer is planning to update their system, investment in the milking machine is only a portion of the required investment. It is important that dairy farmers also invest in animal housing, slurry storage, fodder storage and making their holding more accessible. To this end the TAMS schemes are designed to encourage farmers to invest in these animal welfare and environmentally beneficial investments before investing in additional milking equipment. In addition to the investments being carried over from TAMS II there is a wide range of additional investments being introduced for farmers, including farm roadways, bovine fencing, health and fertility monitoring systems, automatic drafting systems, public road underpasses and milk recording systems, to name just a few.
