Animal Welfare & Nutrient Storage
A grant of 40% of your approved costs on housing and equipment, or 60% on nutrient storage, up to €90,000 on one holding or €160,000 for a registered farm partnership, with a separate €90,000 ceiling kept for nutrient storage only.
Last checked August 2026
What it is
Grant aid at 40%, rising to 60% for nutrient storage, towards animal housing and slurry storage. It covers sheep housing slatted or solid floor with penning, calf houses and creeps, calving and bull pens, cubicles, slurry tanks and circular stores, manure pits, silage pits, meal bins, cattle underpasses, farm roadways and sheep fencing. Ceiling €90,000, €160,000 for a partnership, with a separate €90,000 nutrient storage ceiling on top. Sheep fencing needs a sheep enterprise kept for 5 years after payment.
Who can get it
- You have at least 5 hectares declared under BISS, or 20 production units, and you apply online through your agfood.ie account.
- You are spending at least €2,000 on eligible items in the application.
- You are building or buying from the scheme list, such as sheep or calf housing, cubicles, slurry storage, a silage pit, fencing, a farm road or a cattle underpass.
- You have a sheep enterprise at application and, or claim stage and will keep it for five years from the date of payment, if you are claiming for sheep fencing.
- You apply before the tranche closes. Tranche 13 closes 4 September 2026 and Tranche 14 closes 4 December 2026.
- There are two ceilings here rather than one. The general €90,000 (€160,000 for a registered farm partnership) and a separate dedicated €90,000 (€160,000) ring-fenced for nutrient storage. Storage work does not eat into your housing budget.
- The rate splits. Most items are 40%, but nutrient storage is 60%, and that means mass concrete tanks, manure pits, circular slurry stores and geo membrane lined stores.
- Sheep fencing has a five-year string attached. You must have a sheep enterprise at application and, or claim stage and maintain it for at least five years from the date the grant is paid.
- Sheep handling is not in this scheme. The scheme's own terms point you to the Farm Safety Scheme for standard animal handling facilities, and that one pays 60%. Sheep housing and sheep fencing stay here.
- 75% of eligible applications were selected in Tranche 12. Where more arrive than the budget covers, Ranking and Selection decides who gets in.
How to apply
Applications go through DAFM. The official page has the full eligibility rules and the application itself.
Go to the official page →Checked against the official source on 28 August 2026. Always confirm the details on the official page before applying.
Questions people ask
What grant rate do I get for a slurry tank?
Nutrient storage is paid at 60% under this scheme. That covers mass concrete tanks, manure pits, circular slurry stores and geo membrane lined stores. Most other items on the list, such as housing, cubicles and fencing, are paid at 40%.
Does a slurry store use up my €90,000?
No. Nutrient storage has its own dedicated ceiling of €90,000, or €160,000 for a registered farm partnership, sitting alongside the general €90,000. You can spend the general ceiling on housing and still have the full storage ceiling behind it.
Is sheep fencing covered?
Yes, at 40%. Sheep mesh with one strand of wire, mountain sheep mesh with one strand of wire and gateways are all on the list. There is a condition: you must have a sheep enterprise at application and, or claim stage, and keep that enterprise for at least five years from the date the grant is paid.
Can I get a sheep handling unit under this scheme?
No. The terms for this scheme say standard animal handling facilities are available under the Farm Safety Scheme. That is the only TAMS 3 scheme with sheep handling units, footbaths, weighing scales and rollover crates on its list, and it pays 60%. Sheep fencing and sheep housing are the parts that stay here.
Related guides
- Fuel Income Support Scheme
- TAMS 3 Dairy Equipment Scheme
- TAMS 3 Organic Capital Investment Scheme
- TAMS 3 Pig and Poultry Investment Scheme
- TAMS 3 Nutrient Importation Storage Scheme
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