Saturday 29 September 2012
Ireland
Grants for Dairy equipment
There are reports that applications to the most recent tranche of TAMS Dairy Equipment Scheme, which closed at the end of last month, slowed down.
If this were so, and the trend continued, then not all of the €44m grant funding available under the scheme might be spent by the deadline of December 2013.
But it would also mean that dairy farmers who fail to qualify for grant aid in the first, second or subsequent tranches, under the Department's points system, might eventually cross the line in a later tranche. Among the farmers struggling to qualify are older farmers who built up quota by purchases outside the Department's trading scheme.
According to the Department of Agriculture, 936 applications were received in the first tranche of the revised scheme which closed at the end of January 2012. The value, in grant terms, of these applications was €11.3 million but the amount available for the first tranche was €4.925 million, meaning this tranche was heavily over-subscribed. Some 400 applicants who scored highest on points have now received approval to proceed.
The remaining 500 eligible applications were carried forward and are now being considered as part of the second tranche, which closed at the end of April 2012.
A further 391 new applications were also received in that tranche. Processing of these 900 applications could be completed by the end of this month. With an average grant amount in this scheme of €10,000, and total grant aid of €4.9m available in each tranche, it is likely that, once again, some 400 farmers will get grant approval in the second tranche and that some 500 will carry forward for consideration in the third tranche.
Meanwhile, the third tranche closed off to application at the end of August and there are some reports that the number of applications was down. This would not be surprising given the difficult summer and cuts in milk prices. There will be a further seven application tranches in the Dairy Equipment Scheme between now and the end of 2013.
farmersjournal.ie
Source: Argentine Beef Packers S.A.
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