As many readers will be aware the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue recently announced his support and opening up of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) which will be available to the Equine Farming Sector under the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023-27. Recent figures released by (DAFM) in May this year revealed that a total expenditure under the seven measures of TAMS, including transitional CAP expenditure, has reached more than €360 million. Equine Farming DAFM defines equine farming as; ‘the training of horses and the rearing of bloodstock’.

Equine specific facilities

Minister McConalogue’s announcement is a welcome and major win for the equine sector and will breathe much needed indirect funding into the industry. While I try to remain positive on this topic the equine farming sector has not received such funding under TAMS, apart from equine stocks, since 2009.

Despite online drafted documents on the DAFM website detailing equine specific facilities and fencing specifications (DAFM S156 document, dated January 2016 and document S148 revised August 2019) my phone calls with the DAFM TAMS II department in 2020 informed me that they never received an application from the sector under the last CAP policy. It’s also interesting that within the TAMS II application portal of DAFM website equine specific measures are available but are switched off for application.

Background: The Equine Farming Taskforce

While many bodies, organisations and groups across the sector (thoroughbred and sport horse sectors) have hung their hat on this successful outcome for the sector, and, yes, it has been an industry-wide collaborative effort (equestrian journalism, governing bodies, education, political et cetera.), it is my opinion that its success is firmly rooted at the grassroots of the equine farming community dating back to Horse Care Ireland up to the current Equine Farming Taskforce (EFT) (Formerly the Breeders Alliance Lobby Group).

The Equine Farming Taskforce comes under umbrella initiatives run by the Mayo Roscommon Breeders Group (MRBG) and was established at a DAFM approved equine knowledge transfer national event in 2019. At that event, MRBG and guest speaker Michael Doherty of Quarryfield Farm highlighted the parity and lack of inclusion for the sector in other CAP schemes namely TAMS II and lack of equine specific measures in environmental schemes under the previous CAP policy.

Horse Sport Ireland and Teagasc representatives were also in attendance on the night and as one meeting and discussion led to another so did the importance and significance of the group submitting its own Equine Farming CAP Submission as part of the DAFM public consultation process in September 2021, which subsequently included an industry-wide attendance at Irish Farmers Association CAP review meetings.

TAMS: Who will qualify and what will be available?

The EFT is a voluntary run group with industry collaboration at its core. Michael Doherty has done tremendous work with the Irish Farmers Association communicating the voice of the EFT at meetings. The EFT maintain close communication with all leaders with Horse Sport Ireland. A recent progressive meeting with HSI, IFA and the EFT and the findings of a recent survey ‘The Business of Breeding 2022’ by HSI (launched on Wednesday by Senator Pippa Hackett at The Clayton Hotel) identified the needs of the sector and determined the criteria for application for TAMS 2023-27. (As we go to print 79% of participants state that they have never heard of TAMS.)

EFT Strategy:

?1. Achieve TAMS funding from DAFM

?2. Continuation of Knowledge Transfer Scheme with aligned syllabus to National Breeding Programme

?3. Increase political awareness of the Irish Sport Horse industry: increase direct and indirect funding into the Irish Sport Horse sector

?4. Achieve harmonised inclusion for equine farming in all CAP schemes

?5. Breeder/producer education: lobby governing bodies to ensure provision

Foresight:

It’s important to highlight that the equine farming, breeding and production sector utilises 12.2% of the total agricultural land area in Ireland (Central Statistics Office) with the highest utilisation in the West of Ireland at 14.4% and the approximately 27 thousand registered equine premises numbers in the DAFM constitutes 20% of the total number of farmers in Ireland.

So herein lies the big picture questions: how will our low intensity, potentially carbon negative ‘green’ equine farming sector contribute to 25% reduction in carbon emissions recently announced by Government? Who has calculated our carbon output and or carbon sequestration as a sector? Who will educate us on the topic (DAFM Farming Advisory System equine specific advisors?) and will the sector be recognised, and more importantly, be rewarded for its contribution to climate change aligned to other farming sectors beef, tillage, dairy, sheep, et cetera?

There is much to do, much to communicate and learn. Collaboration is the backbone to the sector’s success, so let’s dig deep collectively.

Patrick Hester is a director and co-founder of the Equine Farming Taskforce, a director of the Irish Horse Centre, co-founder of the Mayo Roscommon Breeders Group and runs Stall Patrick Hester. He is also a former lecturer at the College of Food, Agriculture and Rural Enterprise.