IFA Horse Project Team Chairman Richard Kennedy has said that farmers who are actively involved in the breeding and rearing of horses must be included in farm investment support schemes under the new CAP from January 2023.
Following a meeting with Minister Martin Heydon, he added: “We were pleased that Minister Heydon is supportive of the case that IFA has made to include the horse farming sector under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) in the future. We must see this support come to fruition and be available for farmers to apply for in early 2023.”
The horse sector is an integral farming activity throughout rural Ireland and makes a contribution of €2 billion to our economy, but it remains one of the only agricultural sectors that has not been included in a meaningful way in the support measures available through the CAP-funded on-farm investment grant schemes.
The requirements for continual reinvestment on farms to improve safety measures and maintain the positive environmental and economic contribution that the equine sector makes were acknowledged as good reasons for including the horse farmers in TAMS.
“Reinvestment is essential if we are to see the next generation of farmers continue the tradition and contribution that horses make to the national agricultural output. Maintaining the grassroots farmer involved in breeding and rearing of horses is key to the continued success of our equine farming sector, which is world renowned for producing top-class thoroughbred and sports horses.”