Longford Leader Farming: All you need to know about the new calf investment scheme

Just before Christmas, the Minister for Agriculture announced that he intended to introduce an investment scheme aimed to assist farmers purchase new equipment for the rearing of dairy bred calves.

The scheme opened for applications on 7th January and will close on 28th January 2020. The timeframe for applying is short but the application procedure is simplified compared with other schemes

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The following should be noted in relation to the Calf Investment Scheme (CIS):

• A fund of €1.5million is available. The grant rate is 40% subject to a minimum investment of €1,000 and a maximum investment of €7,500. This essentially means that the minimum grant that will be paid is €400 and the maximum is €3,000. If the average grant applied for is €2,000, the fund can only support 750 applications. If the scheme is oversubscribed the grant rate may be reduced.
• There are two category of investments, Category A and Category B. You must apply on a category A investment before you can apply on a category B investment. Category A investments include calf teat feeders, computerised calf feeders and milk carts with mixer units. Category B investments include milk heaters, hay racks, meal troughs, feed barriers and pen dividers.
• Anyone over 18 years of age who holds a bovine herd number and declared over 5ha under the Basic Payment Scheme application for 2019 is eligible to apply.
• Completed applications must be emailed in pdf format to cis@agriculture.gov.ie before 5pm on January 28th.
• You must not purchase or pay deposits on any grant related investments before the department of Agriculture confirm receipt of your application which they will do via email.
• All documentation in relation to this scheme can be found at the following link www.agriculture.gov.ie/farmerschemespayments/calfinvestmentscheme/

Teagasc provides a Local Advisory and Education service to farmers. They have offices based in Roscommon Town (Tel: 090 6626166), Castlerea (Tel: 094 9620160) and Longford Town (Tel: 043 3341021), You can find them on Facebook by searching Teagasc Roscommon Longford.

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