Minister Heydon announces the opening of a new measure to support Producer Organisations
- Foilsithe: 16 Aibreán 2025
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 18 Aibreán 2025
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, today announced the opening a new measure to support the formation and establishment of Producer Organisations (POs). The Early-Stage Support for Producer Organisations (ESSPO) Scheme is a multi-annual measure under the CAP Strategic Plan. It aims to support groups of producers to form recognised POs across the following seven sectors – beef, sheep, milk, potato, tillage, plant amenity, fruit and vegetables.
Opening the scheme, Minister Heydon stressed the benefits of farmer collaboration:
“POs are a valuable tool for primary producers to strengthen their collective bargaining power in the food supply chain. This scheme will support farmers in a wide array of sectors who wish to work together in POs to negotiate collectively on behalf of their members. Members can achieve common interests by working together to pool resources, plan production, concentrate supply, improve marketing and share knowledge under the umbrella of a recognised PO.”
The ESSPO Scheme will support POs over their first three years after recognition. Grant funding, up to a maximum of €10,000 annually, will be available for administrative functions during that period. Those grants are intended to contribute to eligible administrative costs including the engagement of administrative human resources and the purchase of relevant technology. A separate grant of €3,000 is available to cover the costs of engaging approved facilitators for legal and business advice on PO formation and the submission of an application.
Explaining how this scheme will promote the adoption and development of POs, the Minister said:
“We have a low level of recognised POs in Ireland. I want this scheme to change that situation. Groups need ongoing support in their early years and this scheme will provide that funding. I urge all farmers to read the scheme terms and conditions on my department’s website, join with like-minded producers to form a PO, consult an advisor and submit an application. The deadline for receipt of the first tranche of application is 28 May 2025 but the scheme will be opened to receive further applications at regular intervals thereafter.”
The scheme terms and conditions along with a list of approved facilitators and application forms can be found at: Early-Stage Support for Producer Organisations Scheme.
All applications and queries should be submitted to the dedicated e-mail address for scheme correspondence: PO@agriculture.gov.ie
Notes
The ESSPO scheme is co-funded by the Irish Government and the EU under the CAP Strategic Fund 2023 – 2027. Applications for recognition will be accepted on a rolling basis from 2025 to 2027 inclusive.
Applicant POs must:
- be set up on the initiative of producers and be led by producers
- have a minimum of 20 members (beef, milk and sheep sectors) or have a minimum of 5 members (other sectors)
- be registered as a legal entity or a clearly defined part of a legal entity
- have a combined value of marketed production (VMP) of more than €2.5 million in the fruit and vegetable sector
- have a combined VMP of more than €1.5 million in the potato, tillage and amenity plant sectors