# TAMS 3 in 2026: the rates, your real odds, and how to apply without losing weeks

*Published 2026-08-25 by FarmAI Ireland*

TAMS 3 pays 40% of eligible investment costs, up to a €90,000 ceiling per holding. Young farmers, women farmers, and safety, organic, slurry and solar work get 60%. Tranche 13 closes on 4 September 2026; Tranche 14 closes 4 December. And approval is no longer a formality: last tranche, farm safety applications were 100% selected while solar ran at 10%. Here is the whole picture.

## What does TAMS 3 actually cover?

Eleven measures, and the grant rate depends on which one you fall under.

**The 60% schemes:** Farm Safety, Young Farmer, Women Farmer, Organic Capital Investment, Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS), Solar Capital Investment, and the Nutrient Storage Scheme added in January 2025. That last one covers manure pits, mass concrete tanks, circular stores and geomembrane-lined stores.

**The 40% schemes:** Animal Welfare, Safety & Nutrient Storage; Dairy Equipment; Tillage; and Pig & Poultry.

The minimum eligible investment is €2,000 per application. Reference costings were last revised on 5 September 2025, and costings exclude VAT — VAT is not grant-eligible.

## Rates and ceilings, in one place

| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Standard rate | 40% of eligible costs |
| Enhanced rate (young/women farmers, safety, organic, LESS, solar, storage) | 60% |
| Ceiling per holding | €90,000 (max grant €36,000 at 40%, €54,000 at 60%) |
| Registered farm partnerships | €160,000 ceiling |
| Solar | Separate ring-fenced €90,000 ceiling at 60% |
| Slurry/nutrient storage | Separate €90,000 ceiling at 60% |
| LESS equipment | Separate €40,000 ceiling |

The separate ceilings matter. Because solar and storage sit outside your main €90,000, a farm doing a shed, a tank and panels is not competing with itself for one pot.

## What are your real odds of approval?

This is the part most guides skip. Since ranking and selection began applying routinely, DAFM approves a percentage of valid applications per scheme, per tranche.

Tranche 12 selection rates, confirmed by Minister Heydon and reported by Agriland: Farm Safety 100%. Animal Welfare, Safety & Nutrient Storage, Women Farmer, Young Farmer, Organic, and Pig & Poultry all 75%. Tillage 70%. Dairy Equipment 20%. Solar 10%. LESS 10%.

Tranche 11 looked much the same — dairy equipment at 20%, solar and LESS at 10%.

If you are not selected, your valid application rolls forward to one more tranche automatically. Not selected the second time, and it resets to a draft. So a solar or LESS application is genuinely a long shot right now, and you should plan cashflow as if the grant may not come. The scheme is busy — 69,593 applications since 2023 and over €181 million paid out, with €88 million allocated for 2026 under Budget 2026.

From Tranche 13, DAFM's amended ranking criteria give additional marks to 13 nutrient storage investment types. If a tank was on your list anyway, your odds just improved.

## How do you apply without losing weeks?

Everything goes through agfood.ie — no paper forms are accepted. You or your agent must be registered for Online Services first, and registration takes days, not minutes. An advisor is not mandatory, but the drawings often are.

The documents are where applications die. Depending on the investment, you may need:

- a site location map with Eircode or GPS
- a farmyard layout plan at 1:500
- a structure plan at 1:100 or 1:200
- full and final planning permission, or a declaration of exemption with stamped drawings
- ownership or lease documents

An application missing any required document at submission is deemed ineligible and rejected. Applications cannot be amended after submission.

Before you gather anything, make the checklist. The terms and conditions run to dozens of pages per measure, and this is exactly the reading job AI does well. Paste the T&C sections for your measure into an AI assistant and ask: *"List every document I must submit with a TAMS application for [investment], and every deadline that applies after approval. Flag anything that makes an application ineligible."* Check the output against the PDF — then you have your checklist. It is how this article's [3-hour TAMS application workflow](/read/save-3-hours-on-your-tams-application-with-chatgpt) starts.

Three rules that catch people every tranche:

1. **Do not start work — or pay a deposit — before you apply.** Anything started or paid before the submission date is ineligible. Work still needs written approval before it begins.
2. **The clock runs from approval.** Under the solar scheme's terms, works must be completed and claimed within 12 months, in one claim. Late claims lose 1% per week for 14 weeks, then pay nothing. Completion periods can differ by measure — check your own measure's terms before you sign anything.
3. **You are paid on reference costs, not your quote.** DAFM pays its grant percentage against published reference costs. If your builder's quote runs well above reference, the difference is yours. Before you accept a quote, ask AI: *"Here is my builder's quote and here is the DAFM reference cost list for these items. Where is my quote above reference, and by how much?"*

At claim stage, the solar scheme's terms require geo-tagged AgriSnap photos of each investment, tax clearance for you and your contractor, and VAT-exclusive receipts. Payments must come from your own bank account — no cash, no lease finance. Expect the same pattern on other measures, and confirm the detail in your own measure's PDF.

## More of the job AI can carry

If you are still choosing what to build, our [AI shortlisting guide for the TAMS equipment list](/read/tams-iii-equipment-list-ai) narrows hundreds of eligible items to the ones that fit your farm. And set a [grant deadline alert](/read/ai-grant-deadline-alerts-setup) for 4 December now — the next tranche will arrive faster than you think.

## Where to get help

Your Teagasc advisor can confirm which TAMS 3 measure and rate you qualify for and whether your drawings meet spec. DAFM's online services helpline is 0761 064424, or agfood@agriculture.gov.ie. The full terms and conditions for each measure are on gov.ie — read your own measure's PDF, not a summary, before you submit.

## Frequently asked questions

**Can I start building before TAMS approval comes through?**
No. Anything started, or any deposit paid, before your application is submitted is ineligible, and work needs written DAFM approval before it begins. Deposits paid after submission are eligible but at your own risk if the application fails.

**What happens if my tranche isn't selected?**
A valid application rolls forward automatically to one more tranche. If it is not selected the second time, it resets to a draft and you must resubmit. Farm safety applications were 100% selected in Tranche 12; solar and LESS ran at 10%.

**Is it worth applying for solar under TAMS right now?**
The 60% rate and separate €90,000 ceiling are genuinely good — but only about 1 in 10 valid solar applications were selected in each of the last two tranches. Apply if the sums work, and plan as if the grant may not arrive. Our [solar break-even guide](/read/solar-panels-farm-shed-break-even) runs the numbers without the grant.

## The bottom line

The rates are the best they have been — 60% on safety, storage and solar. But selection now runs from 100% to 10% by scheme, so know your odds before you spend money on drawings. Get the document checklist right first time, and have your application in before 4 September or ready for the December tranche.

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## Sources

- [Teagasc — An update on TAMS 3](https://teagasc.ie/news--events/daily/an-update-on-tams-3/) — Grant rates by scheme, investment ceilings, the separate LESS, solar and storage ceilings, and the reference costings revision date
- [DAFM — TAMS 3 Scheme Terms and Conditions (Solar Capital Investment Scheme)](https://assets.gov.ie/247951/ae495189-fb3d-4652-92fd-0a58d3def3bc.pdf) — Official application process, required documents, the no-start-before-approval rule, claim deadlines and penalties, the one-rollover rule, and the DAFM online services helpline
- [Agriland — Heydon confirms ranking and selection for TAMS Tranche 12](https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/heydon-confirms-ranking-and-selection-for-tams-tranche-12/) — Tranche 13 closing 4 September and Tranche 14 closing 4 December 2026, selection rates by scheme for Tranche 12, application volumes and total paid out to date
- [Agriland — Ranking and selection to apply to TAMS Tranche 11](https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/ranking-and-selection-to-apply-to-tams-tranche-11-heydon/) — Tranche 11 selection rates, the tranche opening 20 June 2026, and the amended ranking criteria adding marks for 13 nutrient storage investment types
- [Teagasc — New enhanced grant aid for nutrient storage included in TAMS 3](https://teagasc.ie/news--events/daily/new-enhanced-grant-aid-for-nutrient-storage-included-in-tams-3/) — The 60% nutrient storage measure added at Tranche 6 and the investments it covers
- [DAFM — Minister Heydon secures additional €170 million in Budget 2026](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine/press-releases/minister-heydon-secures-additional-170-million-in-budget-2026-9-increase-brings-departmental-vote-to-over-23-billion/) — Confirms the €88 million TAMS allocation for 2026

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*Source: [FarmAI Ireland](https://farmai.ie/read/tams-3-2026-rates-odds-how-to-apply)*