This week’s confirmation by the Department of Agriculture that there will be another TAMS II tranche opening after the current tranche closes in two weeks’ time has been widely welcomed by farmers, planners and agri-consultants.

Planners and agents submitting applications on a farmer’s behalf were reporting intense pressure to get applications submitted as farmers were worried about the possibility of further tranches not opening.

Extension

The recent decision to extend the deadline for submissions in tranche 18 by two weeks to midnight on 21 August 2020 provided some reprieve, but the opening of a further tranche has greatly eased the pressure.

There is no information available as yet on the closing date for tranche 19, but previous applications have worked to a three-month timeline, with the exception of trance 18, which has been open for a little over two and a half months.

Payments update

The latest Department scheme payments update for the week ending 31 July shows 28,828 approvals issued to date.

Within this, there has been 16,548 payment applications submitted and 15,624 of these have been paid. The total sum paid in the last week was recorded at €1.471m, which brings the total payment under TAMS II to €231.44m.

Calf Investment Scheme payments commence

2020 Grassland Farmer of the Year competition launched

TAMS clarity relieves pressure on applications

Planners report that the announcement that tranche 19 of TAMS II will open on 22 August 2020 is already giving farmers more leeway to plan applications in a more orderly fashion.