The Green Cert course is of huge interest to young farmers across Ireland, and courses are available nationwide through the network of Teagasc Regional Education Centres, Agricultural Colleges and other providers, Brendan Garry, Teagasc Ballinrobe, tells us more.
Within Teagasc and its network of providers, there are three options available to students wishing to complete the Green Cert:
- Full-time two-year course in Agricultural Colleges across Ireland,
- A Part-time option available to over 23-year-olds, and
- A Distance Education option available for students who hold a level 6 or higher non-Agricultural Award.
The benefits of completing the Teagasc Green Cert are numerous. Throughout the course, participants are exposed to the latest farming methods and technologies to equip trained farmers to successfully run and manage their farming enterprises. Furthermore, there are financial benefits in completing the course and proceeding to become a young-trained-farmer both in terms of Tax Reliefs, and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine supports to graduates.
One such benefit is potential exemption from stamp duty if the qualified farmer is under the age of 35 at the time of the farm transfer or property purchase and fulfils the other requirements of that Relief. Under TAMS 3, there is a suite of schemes and measures that young-trained farmers may be eligible to avail of in the first five years of their farming career up to the age of 40, subject to fulfilling the relevant terms and conditions. Furthermore, a measure known as the Women Farmer Capital Investment Scheme provides support to women farmers aged 18 to 67 years of age, who have met the relevant training requirement.
Young, qualified farmers can also avail of financial incentives under the National Reserve (NR) and the Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers (CISYF scheme). One condition of these incentives is that the agricultural education element must be completed prior to application. New entrants to farming can also benefit from the Nation Reserve.
Further financial benefits from completing the course include assisting applicants to meet qualifying criteria for a range of taxation measures including enhanced stock relief, consanguinity relief from Stamp duty, and potential agricultural relief from Capital Acquisitions tax. Furthermore, a requirement of the Succession Farm Partnership tax credit is that agricultural education has been completed by the successor. Clearly education is a key consideration when planning the transfer of the family farm.
Teagasc Mayo are now accepting applications from prospective students for our next Distance Education course to start in January 2026 subject to numbers. The course will be delivered from Teagasc Ballinrobe, Co Mayo with the course expected to take between 15-18 months. Applicants require a Level 6 in a Non-Agricultural award to apply and should have access to a farm, such as their home-farm.
If you want to apply or to get more information about this course, please contact Teagasc Ballinrobe on (094) 9541125 or e-mail cora.owens@teagasc.ie. Alternatively, Teagasc Mayo held a dedicated webinar in October outlining the details and benefits of the Green Cert and this webinar can be viewed below: