The Low Emission Slurry Scheme (LESS), which operates under the new Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3), is now open to applications, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has confirmed, writes farming journalist, Catherina Cunnane.
TAMS provides funding for capital investments on farms and will be in place for five years with a budget of €370 million.
Tranche 1 of the scheme opened on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023, and the remaining four TAMS schemes will open on a phased basis during tranche 1, which is expected to close on June 16th, 2023.
LESS
The practice of Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS), according to the DAFM, is an important environmentally sustainable technology that will facilitate Ireland in meeting its environmental commitments through reductions in ammonia and other reactive nitrogen emissions from soil.
The practice, a DAFM statement added, leads to greater nutrient recovery from slurries and indirectly improved nutrient use efficiency, as well as a reduced dependency on chemical fertilisers.
For LESS, the maximum amount of investment eligible for grant aid under the scheme is €40,000 per holding.
However, in the case of a joint application by two or more eligible partners under a registered farm partnership, the maximum eligible investment ceilings referred to above shall be increased to €60,000.
The investment ceiling under this scheme is not subject to the overall TAMS 3 investment ceiling of €90,000 per holding, the DAFM has confirmed.
List of items for LESS
A list of the eligible investments is detailed in the scheme’s terms and conditions document, which you can access via the DAFM’s website.
- Mobile slurry tank with attachments such as trailing shoe with macerator and shallow injection with macerator;
- Retrofit trailing shoe attachment with macerator to existing tanker, new or retrofit inlet choppers, and flow meters;
- An umbilical system including base pump, hose reel and fittings, lay flat hose and fittings, trailing shoe or shallow injection attachments, as well as a flow meter and retrofit trailing shoe attachment to existing umbilical system;
- Hydraulic motor to substitute PTO Shaft is also available.
McConalogue comments
Minister McConalogue said that the Low Emission Slurry Scheme highlights the DAFM’s continued support to assist farmers in undertaking the necessary investment to upgrade their slurry spreading equipment to meet their environmental commitments.
“It was taken up hugely by farmers under the previous TAMS and I expect significant interest now also. To incentivise this important technology, we are retaining the standalone investment ceiling of €40,000 per holding, and we are increasing the grant rate from 40% to 60%.”
Specifications
You can access all department structural specifications and notices relevant to this scheme on the DAFM’s website.
You can submit queries of a technical nature relating to the specifications by email to the following address – [email protected]
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