The number of farmers facing an extended wait for the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) approval is set to increase as the scheme approaches its final window for applications.

There has been a backlog of TAMS applications since April 2019, when 3,200 farmers applied to tranche 13.

Since then, more than 600 farmers have been rolled over from one tranche to the next for the last three application windows.

The Department of Agriculture has confirmed that tranche 16, which closed on 10 January, is also oversubscribed. In total, there were 2,804 new applications, while 633 were from farmers who were rolled over from the previous tranche.

The 3,437 applications is a new record high for a single tranche and accounts for a combined €36.2m worth of on-farm investments.

Due to Department budgetary restraints, just under 700 of these farmers will not have their investment plans considered until after the current tranche closes on 5 June. The Department has notified farmers to tell them if they were successful or if they will be considered in the next batch.

The window for farmers to submit an application to tranche 17 had been due to close on Friday 24 April. The closing date was pushed back to 5 June to facilitate farmers and advisers who could not meet to finalise applications due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

However, the extended deadline, combined with the high number of applications to be rolled over, is likely to result in a worsening of the backlog.

TAMS is due to shut for new applications at the end of this year with just two more tranches due before then.

Claims

While €209m has been paid out to date under TAMS, 9,000 approved farmers are yet to submit a payment claim. These outstanding claims are worth €190m, according to the Department.

A three-month extension has also been granted on payment claims for projects to be completed by 1 July.