A lot of farmers had held off on building works during the summer months, with an expectation that prices for materials would fall.

Thankfully, raw steel has seen a dip in price in recent weeks, although concrete is still significantly higher-priced than many would like to see.

The 10% concrete levy proposed across all forms of readymix concrete, blocks and certain precast materials seemed to add insult to injury.

Farmers and builders felt very hard done by that the wrongdoings of other individuals were being rectified through their pockets.

Thankfully, through pressure from our farm organisations and through our media outlets, this levy has been reduced to 5%, with a delayed commencement date.

The accelerated capital allowance on slurry storage was seen as a win for dairy farmers after what will likely be a record year for farm profits. Increased storage capacity can only be viewed as a win for all, with farmers benefitting from being able to spread organic manures when grass is growing and ground conditions are good, with less leaching and runoff helping to protect groundwater and watercourses.

Pressure

Pressure will be on many dairy farmers to secure dirty water storage, with minimum storage requirements increasing from December 2023.

This year will mark the end of the highly successful TAMS, with the final tranche closing on 19 December.

Running since 2015, the scheme saw the facilitation of much of the infrastructure seen on dairy farms post-quota, as well as improved housing, handling and fencing on drystock farms.

The new On-Farm Capital Investment Scheme (OFCIS) will likely cover the majority of the items in TAMS, with rumours of underpasses also being eligible for grant aid This will be the next step for many dairy farmers who have invested heavily in farm infrastructure and should improve on farm safety and labour shortages no end.

We look at the new five-bay cubicle shed from father-and-son team Raymond and Michael Delaney.

Rising costs resulted in the loss of a bay, but one week into using it the duo are happy with the investment. Darren Carty looks at the TAMS changes we are likely to see in the new on-farm capital investment scheme (OFCIS).

Finally, we pay a visit to Irish Farmers Journal contributor Kieran O’Sullivan to see how he has built a four-bay dry shed for less than €24,000 on his beef farm.