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The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, today announced that balancing payments to farmers under the 2023 Fodder Support Scheme have commenced.
Announcing the payments, Minister McConalogue said:
“I am pleased to announce that my department has this week commenced issuing balancing payments worth approximately €18.5 million under the 2023 Fodder Support Scheme to over 55,000 eligible participants. These payments, along with the advance payments issued in December 2022, will further assist farmers that have had to contend with increased agricultural input costs, in particular chemical fertiliser, and the impact that had on the quantity of fodder produced and conserved over the last year.”
The 2023 Fodder Support Scheme was a continuance of the 2022 Fodder Support Scheme and aimed to incentivise farmers, in particular drystock farmers, to grow more fodder (silage and/or hay) in 2023 to ensure Ireland does not have any animal welfare issues over the winter period. Only successful applicants for the 2022 Fodder Support Scheme were eligible to apply for the 2023 Scheme when it was open in November and December 2022.
Minister McConalogue added:
“The initial budget for the Fodder Support Scheme was €30 million, with an overall payment rate of up to €100 per hectare. I committed to continue monitoring the situation around the price of agricultural inputs into 2023 and, if they remained high, to seek additional funding for this Scheme. In keeping with that commitment, I have secured €23 million of additional funding, which brings the overall budget for the 2023 Fodder Support Scheme to €53 million.”
The Minister concluded:
“I also want to take this opportunity to encourage any participants in the 2023 Fodder Support Scheme with outstanding requests for documentation from my department to respond promptly to ensure no further delay to their balancing payments.”
Payments will be visible in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days and the department will continue to process all remaining cases for payments as they meet scheme criteria.
The Minister encouraged any farmers with queries in relation to the Fodder Support Scheme to direct them by email to fss@agriculture.gov.ie
Only farmers who were accepted into the 2022 Fodder Support Scheme were eligible to apply for the 2023 Fodder Support Scheme.
The maximum area eligible for payment under the scheme is 10 hectares with a potential maximum payment of €1,000.
Advance payments commenced in December 2022, with balancing payments being made in Quarter 4 2023.
The Terms & Conditions of the Scheme are available on the department’s website and can be accessed at: gov.ie - Fodder Support Scheme (www.gov.ie).