Green measures sought by farm groups in Budget 2020

Farm groups are seeking a number of grant schemes, rebate systems and carbon accounting in their Budget 2020 submissions.

The IFA is calling for the introduction of a green tax credit where farmers with surplus energy are unable to sell back to the grid.

It also wants the strategic prioritisation of renewable energy and micro or community-based renewables projects, in terms of planning and grid access to provide a potential additional income source.

A protected urea incentive scheme and a liming grant scheme are sought by the IFA.

The former would close the price differential between it and existing products, while a liming scheme would support environment efficiency in terms of healthy soils and crop growth, according to the IFA.

Both the IFA and ICMSA want to see a 60% grant on all low-emission slurry spreading (LESS) equipment.

The ICMSA has also sought a rebate system to encourage use of protected urea.

It has also called for increased incentives for solar panels on Irish farms through the grant aiding of at least 18kw panels and batteries and called for funding for new co-ops to invest in anaerobic digestors (AD).

It said there should be availability of 100% capital write down on carbon efficient equipment and a reduced VAT rate on renewable products and services.

The ICMSA has called for the introduction of a new agri-environmental scheme to encourage increased carbon sequestration on intensive farms.

The INHFA has called for the introduction of carbon accounting, initially for business and farms and extended to households and individuals as soon as is practical.

In farming, this would assess the greenhouse gas (GHG emissions), taking into account livestock numbers, animal feed in terms of forage and concentrates, which would also need to assess transport, and all factors involved in producing the product, it said.

The INHFA said that farmers and landowners need to be reimbursed for additional costs incurred as a result of the designations, for example planning cost for fencing. It has called for a €1m budget to deal with historic cases.

Macra is seeking support in the form of capital grants for small-scale on-farm AD units, and solar projects.

It has also called for a biogas support scheme in the form of a feed-in tariff that should be put in place for biomethane injection for larger centralised AD facilities close to the gas grid.

It has also called for an increase in the annual budget for the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH), which encourages farmers to change from fossil-based fuel sources to renewable heat sources.

Macra would like the energy crop support scheme re-opened, now that a market has been created from indigenous biomass through the SSRH.

The ICSA was contacted for its pre-budget submission.

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