Dribble bar slurry applicators have been officially ruled out of the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.

Responding to a parliamentary question from Matt Carty TD, Minister McConalogue said he has decided dribble bars will not be eligible under TAMS III, after earlier hopes of their reintroduction.

“Due to the emissions reduction differential between dribble bar and trailing shoe and the need to meet Ireland’s national ammonia ceiling under the national emissions ceiling directive, I have decided that the dribble bar will not be available for grant aid under TAMS III.

“With regard to the suitability on certain land holdings, it should be noted that the weight difference between trailing hose (dribble bar) attachments and trailing shoe attachments is small, depending upon the design of the attachment.

“The lightest trailing hose (dribble bar) attachments start at around 410kg, while the lightest trailing shoe attachments start at around 450kg,” he said.

Dribble bars for low emission slurry spreading (LESS) are cheaper and more widely used than trailing shoes.

Background

The long-running issue around dribble bars being excluded under TAMS first arose when the scheme opened in February 2023.

Following outrage from farmers, Minister McConalogue held meetings with machinery trade bosses on the move. Research on ammonia emissions from trailing shoes and dribble bars was a central focus.

Previous research had indicated that trailing shoes emitted marginally less ammonia than dribble bars, which was then disputed by unpublished research which put them at the same level.

The minister said at the time he would consider the matter and was open to including dribble bars, which had been his stance until now.

The business has evolved

When the Irish Farmers Journal broke the news that dribble bars were going to be excluded from the TAMS funding in February 2023, there was outrage within the industry.

This came from all industry stakeholders, especially manufacturers, who had hundreds of machines ready for delivery and hundreds more in production. Once the story broke, many orders were cancelled.

Roll the clock forward 18 months, and the business has evolved. In May 2023, well-known Cavan slurry equipment manufacturer Mastek was the first out of the traps with a Flexi Shoe trailing shoe applicator.

This was designed for farmers who were struggling with the limitations of traditional trailing shoe designs. It was developed as a halfway house, satisfying the criteria of the TAMS III specification and farmers’ requirements.

It kept the weight low, and only added around 60kg to the applicator unit. A heavy lay flat hose replaced the traditional spring, giving the system flexibility to work in undulating conditions where a traditional trailing shoe would break up in no time.

Since then, almost all major slurry equipment manufacturers have developed their own version of the system.

Although more expensive than the dribble bar, the Flexi Shoe also has an advantage in terms of the price point, coming in at €4,000 to €5,000 (inc VAT) less than a traditional comparable trailing shoe.

Paul Quinn from Mastek explained that; “In terms of TAMS approved low-emission equipment orders, the Flexi Shoe has completely replaced the dribble bar orders.

Looking at the books today, around 65% of orders are for Flexi Shoes, with the remaining 35% for traditional trailing shoes”.