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Collaborative Farming Grant Scheme
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
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The Collaborative Farming Grant Scheme provides financial support to encourage farmers to form partnerships which improve scale and efficiency in farming. The grant is aimed at covering part of the legal, advisory and financial services costs of setting up the partnership agreement.
The scheme is open to all ‘brand new’ farm partnerships which have been placed on the Department’s Register of Farm Partnerships and which have been allocated a Farm Partnership Registration Number (FPRN). Former Milk Production Partnerships are not eligible for this Scheme.
Supporting receipts and documentation must be provided as part of the application process. You must comply with all the terms and conditions of the scheme.
When applying online, do not include VAT in your declared costs. VAT is not included under the Collaborative Farming Scheme.
Partnership benefits
Partnerships have a number of benefits for participants as they:
- improve scale and efficiency within primary agricultural production by encouraging the consolidation of blocks of land held and operated by farmers not within the same family
- encourage new skills and specialisation in primary production through the required enhanced educational qualifications of the participants
- improve the age structure of Irish agriculture by supporting arrangements that have at least one partner who qualifies as a young farmer (under 40), with priority being given to partnerships which also have a partner who is over 60 years of age
Ranking and selection
All applications received will be subjected to ranking and selection criteria. Payment priority will be given to those with more marks in the event of the number of applications exceeding the funding available. Applicants must receive at least 45 marks in order to be considered eligible for the grant. The criteria are as follows:
| Selection criteria | Marks |
| Partnerships with the following enterprises: | |
| Dairying | 25 marks |
| Beef | 23 marks |
| Tillage | 20 marks |
| Sheep | 18 marks |
| Other Enterprises ( Horticulture, Pigs, Poultry, Goats) | 18 marks |
| Two or more enterprises | 25 marks |
| Partnerships involving two or more separate holdings | 30 marks |
| Partnerships where at least one partner has the required level of agriculture qualification | 20 marks |
| Partnerships with a young farmer (under 40 years of age [1]) as a partner | 10 marks |
| Or Partnerships with a young farmer (under 40 years of age) as a partner and a partner over 60 years of age [2] | 15 marks |
| Partnership with at least one certified organic operator | 5 marks |
[1] on 1 January of year of being placed on the Register
[2] on 1 January of year of being placed on the Register
The payment will be calculated at up to 50% of the vouched (VAT exclusive) cost for each of the legal, advisory and financial services incurred in the drawing up of the Farm Partnership Agreement up to a maximum payment of €2,500.
The Scheme is operated in six month tranches. Farm partnerships recently placed on the Departments Register receive an email with the appropriate application form and outlining the procedures involved.
The ‘online’ application must be completed and submitted by Friday 27 September 2019.
Copies of detailed invoices and receipts for the legal, advisory and financial services costs must also be forwarded either by email or by post before Friday 27 September 2019.
The relevant documents can be posted before the deadline to:
Farm Partnership Registration Unit
Address:
Agriculture House, Kildare Street
, Dublin 2
