Frustrations with the TAMS are, in a way, a sign of the effectiveness of the scheme, which has encouraged and facilitated investment in equipment and buildings essential for farm development.

Nowhere is this more true than for tillage farmers, who pushed hard for access to the scheme.

Many tillage farmers are reporting that they didn’t gain approval from the last tranche. The points system for ranking awards five points for ANC farmers, which most tillage farmers would fail to gain.

Some farmers are re-applying but reducing their costings to increase their ranking points.

Applications

It’s understood that the Tillage TAMS has a fairly high proportion of approved applications that have not been completed and drawn down. A lot of money is set aside for these cases, which otherwise could be awarded to other applicants.

Most tillage applications are for equipment, and must be completed within 12 months of the date of approval, compared to the 30 months for building projects.

The main reason cited for not completing approved investments is the requirement that equipment be bought outright, meaning leasing finance is not allowed.

A low-interest loan scheme for capital investment directly linked to TAMS has been suggested as a solution to this dilemma, but time is running out.