The agriculture and agri-food sectors in Ireland are one of the most important sectors not only for the value it contributes to the economy but for the amount of jobs it creates. According to Teagasc (Agriculture and Food Development Authority) and DAFM (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine), the agri-food industry contributes €24 billion to the economy and employees around 150,000 people.

With the significant amount of money and jobs in the agri-food industry, many companies are taking advantage of the R&D Tax Credit. However, at Braithwaite, we have found that many companies are missing out on some important eligible activities that they are not aware of. Below is a list of some eligible R&D activities.

Examples of Eligible R&D activities:

• Determining how or why specific genetic traits are expressed;
• Determining how or why certain environmental variables influence trait expression;
• Enhancing a technological process in plant breeding with advanced features;
• Developing new techniques to increase yield and / or production efficiency;
• Developing technology to protect crops from disease;
• Developing of new feeds for livestock to increase yield;
• Extending knowledge of treatment and management of farm waste in energy efficiency manner;
• Creating new cleaning processes to achieve an appreciable improvement in biosecurity.

Expenditures can include wages, third-party contractor cost (contractor performing R&D in EEA), materials, machinery, equipment, and overheads.

All facts and figures on the agriculture and agri-food industries are sourced from Teagasc’s and DAFM’s website.