ICSA president Sean McNamara has called on the Minister for Agriculture to reinstate grant aid for dribble bar technology under TAMS, arguing that its exclusion makes no financial or practical sense. “From 1 January 2025, under new slurry spreading rules, farmers stocking above 100kgN/ha will be compelled to use Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) technology. However, many of the affected drystock farmers - the farmers ICSA represents - are currently using splash plates and will now face a major financial burden to upgrade. Worse still, they are being forced to invest in equipment that isn’t even practical for the type of land they farm and delivers little additional environmental benefit,” he said.

 “Minister McConalogue removed the dribble bar from the list of eligible investments under TAMS, despite its proven ability to reduce emissions compared to the traditional splash plate. While the Department continues to grant-aid the trailing shoe, this ignores the reality that many farmers - especially those with smaller-powered tractors, heavier soils, or hilly farms - simply cannot operate a trailing shoe because of its weight and the ground conditions.”

 “A trailing shoe is a heavy and difficult machine to use on anything other than good, flat, even ground. Crucially, it cannot be retrofitted to an existing tanker, meaning many farmers would have to invest in an entirely new system. In contrast, a dribble bar is lighter, easier to manage, and can be fitted to many existing tankers, making it a far more practical and cost-effective option.”

 Mr McNamara said ICSA is demanding the reintroduction of grant aid for dribble bars under TAMS 3, either as a retrofitting option or as part of a new tanker purchase. “Both options are significantly cheaper than the trailing shoe, and there’s no good reason why farmers should be denied access to this more affordable and practical solution. If the goal is to encourage LESS adoption, then it only makes sense to support dribble bars too.”