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HomeDairyDairy Equipment Scheme opens with max investment ceiling of €90,000
Catherina Cunnane
Catherina Cunnanehttps://www.thatsfarming.com/
Catherina Cunnane hails from a sixth-generation drystock and specialised pedigree suckler enterprise in Co. Mayo. She currently holds the positions of editor and general manager at That's Farming, having joined the firm during its start-up phase in 2015.
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Dairy Equipment Scheme opens with max investment ceiling of €90,000

The Dairy Equipment Scheme (DES) has become the sixth to open to applications under the new five-year €370 million Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3).

According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the scheme’s objective is to encourage, in particular, new entrants/young farmers in milk production by providing them with a level of support to meet the “considerable” capital costs associated with the establishment of their enterprise and ensuring that they will have the most up-to-date technology available to compete in the modern dairy sector.

The DAFM has outlined that it only issue grant aid on approved, completed and eligible expenditure and at the rate of 40% up to the applicable maximum investment ceiling of €90,000 per holding.

The minimum amount of investment which is eligible for approval under this scheme is €2,000/application.

A list of eligible investments is detailed in the scheme’s terms and conditions document in Annex B, which the DAFM has made available to farmers.

Such items include:

  • Milk storage and cooling;
  • Water heating;
  • Backup PTO generator;
  • Milk recording equipment;
  • Milking machine;
  • Auto Washer for milking machine.
Milking machines

The DAFM will pay grand aid on one robotic milking machine or 10 milking machine units in a herringbone-style parlour per holding.

If an applicant has received grant aid for a robotic milking machine under TAMS II or TAMS3, they will not be eligible for further grant aid for this investment item, the DAFM has stated.

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For milking machine investments only, the following additional requirements apply:

  • Applicants must have at least 10 % additional slurry storage above the legal minimum, as set out in clause 5.4 (Investments related to farm waste and farm nutrient storage), at the date of application for a milking machine. The additional slurry storage must be on either land owned by the applicant, or land that the applicant has on a long-term lease (minimum seven years from the date of application)
  • Applications for milking machine investments are open to all farmers with up to 120 dairy cows on their holding on average in the year preceding application;
  • Farmers with more than 120 cows may apply for all other investments in the DES scheme.
Specifications

All department structural specifications and notices relevant to this Scheme can be accessed on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine website.

Queries of a technical nature relating to the specifications should be submitted by email to the following email address – [email protected]

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