With 24,000 applications submitted in the first three tranches of TAMS, some of the most popular items have unsurprisingly been those based around machinery (bale slicers, grassland management) and cattle and sheep handling products (head scoops, mobile sheep and cattle handling facilities).
These items are obviously easier financed than larger investments such as animal housing and slurry storage, but another benefit to them is the relatively simple application process, given that no planning permission is required for these mobile items, with no support documentation needed at all, with a large percentage of farmers handling the application process themselves with ease.
With regard to animal handling, nearly all items associated with cattle and sheep handling are classed under the Farm Safety Capital Investment Scheme (FSCIS) which allows all farmers, irrespective of gender, age or education, a 60% grant rate on these items.
The specs
The ‘crush’ area listed below is defined as the main handling area, where an animal is restrained for treatment, dosing etc, with the race being seen as the chute leading up to the crush.
Mobile cattle handling equipment is defined by the Department as being equipment that can be transported using a trailer unit, attachable wheels or tractor three-point linkage.
The equipment should not be concreted, bolted or permanently fixed in place.
Each mobile crush should consist of, at least, a front gate, rear gate, non-slip floor and full sides.
The crush must be a minimum of 2.0m long, and the sides shall be a minimum of 1.45m high.
The front gate may be a manual, semi-automatic or automatic crush gate.
The crush gate at the front should not be less than 1.6m high, and the front gate must finish within 300mm of the floor.
If the front gate is fully automatic (hydraulic opening) then it is permitted for the head restraint to finish up to 600mm above floor level.
The sides of the crush should consist of at least four bars, or hinged solid panels, to a height of 1.45m minimum above the crush floor level.
A combination of solid panels and bars is acceptable.
The sides may open fully, or partially, to allow access to treat the animal contained within the crush.
There should be, at least, two steel hoops across both the top and bottom of the crush holding the sides together.
Each mobile crush unit must have a facility to secure mobile penning to the back of the crush unit.
All side rails and hoops shall consist of, at least, circular hollow section (tubular) steel with an outside diameter of 48.3 mm and a thickness of 2.5 mm.
Alternatively square hollow section (box iron) steel may be used, of at least 50mm x 50mm x 2.5 mm thick.
Specifications also permit additional items such as leg hoists, weighing scales and head scoops to be incorporated in to the crush.
Where the crush is designed to be trailed or carried on the rear three point-linkage of a tractor, the unit must be fitted with lights and relevant plating for road transport.
Mobile penning (cattle hurdles) must be at least 1.5m high (above ground level), and must consist of at least five rails. The pen sections shall be designed to be interlocking, preferably using pins, and should be able to be fastened to the mobile crush unit. The panels may be either mounted on skids or have straight legs.
Lesser diameter steel compared to the crush section is permitted for the cattle hurdles. The pen sections should be manufactured from circular hollow section (tubular) steel with an outside diameter of 41.28 mm and a thickness of 1.5 mm, or, alternatively, square hollow section steel may be used, of at least 38.1 mm x 38.1 mm x 2.5 mm. The use of field or yard gates as mobile penning is not permitted and where it is desired to install sleeves into the ground to stabilise the pillars joining mobile penning, these sleeves should not be placed in a concrete yard.
Reference costs for mobile cattle penning is on a linear metre basis, with a costing of € 57.78/m attributed, up to a maximum 75m. The cattle crush itself (minimum length 2m) has a refernce cost of €2,272.03 per unit, with all prices excl. VAT.
Much the same way as steel RSJs for sheds, farmers have two options when it comes to protection of steel from corrosion for cattle handling.
Hop dip galvanised coating shall be applied after fabrication in accordance with I.S. EN ISO 1461:2009 to a minimum average coating weight of 610 grams/m².
Small areas of galvanised coating damaged by any subsequent welding, cutting, or by excessively rough treatment during transit and erection may be renovated by the use of at least two coats of “spray-on cold galvanising” supplied by the galvanising company; or at least two coats of zinc-rich paint/primer or two coats of ‘ZINGA’.
Alternatively, penning and crushes can be shotblasted and painted, with a holding zinc-rich primer of 25 microns applied within 12 hours of shotblasting.
A further 50 microns of primer, and 50 microns of micaceous iron oxide finishing coat, should be used to provide a total dried coat of minimum 125 microns (80 microns in two coats of the proprietary paint “ZINGA” can be used as an alternative on shotblasted steel to the above standard).
In short