No Justification for Excluding Some Dairy Farmers from TAMS

IFA Dairy Chairman Stephen Arthur said indications that dairy farmers with more than 120 cows will be excluded from funding milking parlours under the new TAMS programme is very concerning.

Stephen Arthur said “based on reports, it seems that the Department of Agriculture will prevent any dairy farmer with over 120 cows from applying for TAMS funding for new milking facilities from 2023. It makes no sense that the sector of Irish agriculture with the highest percentage of viable farmers is being singled out and prevented from getting grant aid to invest in their farm businesses”.

“There are numerous reasons a farmer may wish to put in a new milking parlour, but two of the main reasons would be to make their farm more labour efficient and also to make them more energy efficient. Farmers investing in new milking facilities are doing so to make their farms more sustainable,” he added.

“It does not make sense to arbitrarily set a cow number and exclude all farmers over this. Many dairy farmers with over 120 cows have a number of family members involved, be they partners, parents, sons, daughters or siblings.”

“IFA wants the Minister and his Department officials to reverse this decision. It’s completely unfair and sends the completely wrong message to the hard-working dairy farm families across the country.”