180 hour course etc

biblio

Hi Folks,
This is a bit of a vague question but anyway, to take on the running of a farm from a family member or relative do you have to complete a teagasc approved training course? I have heard neighbours talking about having done "the 180 hour course" which I believe is now replaced by a FETAC course I understand completion of such a course leads to a recognised farming qualification what is that called? Also are any other Fetac or educational qualifications acceptable towards gaining a farming qualification ( Craft Certificate, college course etc)

Can anyone please explain these courses , what s involved and what they mean and the entry requirements etc
Sorry about all the questions Thanks

TomWH

as far as I know there is no need to do any course, if you want to buy or sell cattle you would need to have a herd number.
If you are under 35 doing some courses would entitle you to grants.
The best thing for you to do would be to ring the Dep. of Agriculture, they can give you all the information you need.
bye for now Tom.

reilig

biblio wrote: »

Hi Folks,
This is a bit of a vague question but anyway, to take on the running of a farm from a family member or relative do you have to complete a teagasc approved training course? I have heard neighbours talking about having done "the 180 hour course" which I believe is now replaced by a FETAC course I understand completion of such a course leads to a recognised farming qualification what is that called? Also are any other Fetac or educational qualifications acceptable towards gaining a farming qualification ( Craft Certificate, college course etc)

Can anyone please explain these courses , what s involved and what they mean and the entry requirements etc
Sorry about all the questions Thanks

There is no specific requirement for you to have done the course.
In fact, since the last budget, there is a disincentive to doing the course. The govt pulled the Farm Retirement Scheme and Installation aid. I suspect that these grants will not be in existence over the next few years of recession. People with the course were eligable for an extra 5% under the Farm Waste Management Scheme - but that's gone now.

Perhaps the 180 hour course will qualify you for extra grants in the future, but methinks it will have a lot to do with the state of teh economy whether there are grants or not.

You need to have Ftac level 6 to be able to do the short certificate in agriculture (180hour course or similar)

biblio

Thanks for the advice ,much appreciated

pathway33

biblio wrote: »

Hi Folks,
to take on the running of a farm from a family member or relative do you have to complete a teagasc approved training course?

No. But if you are under 35 when taking over the farm you may get grants if you have done an approved course

biblio wrote: »

Hi Folks,
I have heard neighbours talking about having done "the 180 hour course" which I believe is now replaced by a FETAC course I understand completion of such a course leads to a recognised farming qualification what is that called?

the 180 hour course is gone. The new qualifications are listed on www.teagasc.ie under education. Most are at least 2 years long

biblio wrote: »

Also are any other Fetac or educational qualifications acceptable towards gaining a farming qualification ( Craft Certificate, college course etc)

Can anyone please explain these courses , what s involved and what they

There are other qualifications which are recognised by the department of agriculture such as the distance learning diploma in equine science from the university of limerick and the degree in agriculture from UCD to name but a few. A full list is given on the supplementary leaflet to the single farm payment application form (or some other grant form - I might be getting confused there) I believe. There is also a course for part-time farmers called the advanced certificate in agriculture for part-time farmers. I think you need to have an existing level 6 qualification in anything. It's distance learning but you need to have access to farm accounts I think and the land to carry out your project. Probably more information on that on www.teagasc.ie

Timmaay

reilig wrote: »

There is no specific requirement for you to have done the course.
In fact, since the last budget, there is a disincentive to doing the course. The govt pulled the Farm Retirement Scheme and Installation aid.

The early retirement and installations aids were a very small bonus of the course, the real savings are the capital acquisitions tax relief and stamp duty savings. These saving still apply, and are vital I think for any young farmer wanting to take over a farm, as the price of ag land became silly over the celtic tiger years and it would be unfair to force a young farmer to pay tax on the land on its market value as oppose to ag value.

reilig

Timmaay wrote: »

The early retirement and installations aids were a very small bonus of the course, the real savings are the capital acquisitions tax relief and stamp duty savings. These saving still apply, and are vital I think for any young farmer wanting to take over a farm, as the price of ag land became silly over the celtic tiger years and it would be unfair to force a young farmer to pay tax on the land on its market value as oppose to ag value.

My point was that the OP stated that he was taking the farm from a family member. In this case stamp duty would be minimal or even non existent of the value of the farm did not cross the threshold. You often have to weigh up your time spent doing a course costing a couple of €k, 20 days in college training and taking 2 years to complete against paying a couple of hundred € in tax. I did the course, took over the family farm. Had no benefit from it because I was under the threshold for Stamp duty. If you are taking on 100+ acres it might be worth your while doing it, but if its 30 or 40 acres, personally I would pay the stamp duty because doing the course may cost you more in the long run. For me it cost more to do the course than i saved.
Its not that you will learn a lot on it or anything.