11,080 farmers around the country have now applied for the National Liming Programme, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed to Agriland.
The €8 million programme, to help farmers to “offset part of the expense of using lime”, will close for applications on Thursday, April 20, 2023.
The scheme aims to incentivise the use of ground limestone a natural soil conditioner, which corrects soil acidity by neutralising the acids present in the soil.
Farmers will be able to avail of a payment of €16/t for lime spread, to offset part of the cost of applying calcium ground limestone (CaCo3) or magnesium (dolomitic) ground limestone (CaMg (CO3)2).
Liming Programme
The Teagasc Soil Fertility Report in 2022 indicated while soil fertility nationally has improved it is still estimated that up to “57% of soils require lime”.
The new liming programme was mentioned during a meeting of the National Fodder and Food Security Committee (NFFSC) held yesterday (Thursday, April 14) in Teagasc Oak Park, Co. Carlow.
Bill Callanan, chief inspector with the DAFM, said that there is “quite a heavy demand” in relation to the scheme.
The meeting heard that between 2003-2012, farmers were using an average of 700,000t of lime each year. That figure increased to an average of 990,000t annually between 2013-2022.
However, Mark Plunkett, soil and plant nutrition specialist with Teagasc, said that figure is “not enough”.
“We need to be somewhere around 1.75 million tonnes annually to get the PHs up to where they need to be. That will bring big benefits in terms of nitrogen efficiency and also phosphorus efficiency
“We’re delighted now that we have the support from the department of agriculture, as in the €8 million, that will give us another half a million or more tonnes of lime in the current year,” he said.
Scheme
There is now less than a week to go to the application deadline for the National Liming Programme.
Farmers considering applying for the scheme should be aware that there are a number of conditions that must be met:
- A farmer or advisor must sign up to participate in the programme through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) online service;
- They must indicate on applications the quantity of lime they intend to purchase and spread;
- Lime can only be purchased directly from quarries licenced by the DAFM to manufacture and market liming materials;
- Applicants that have submitted a Basic Payment scheme (BPS) application in 2022 and/or a Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) application in 2023 are eligible to apply.
It should also be noted that farmers with a nitrates derogation in 2022 or 2023 and those with a grassland stocking rate above 170kg livestock manure nitrogen/ha prior to export in 2022 are not eligible to take part in the programme.
Farmers participating or planning to participate in the 2023 Eco-Scheme practice relating to soil sampling and liming are able to apply for the scheme.
Commonage land, forestry, lands under Natura 2000, NHA/pNHA designation as well as Annex 1 grassland and environmentally sensitive permanent grassland are all excluded from the programme.
According to the DAFM – based on budget availability – payment under the new liming programme will be made on a minimum of 10t of ground limestone and a maximum of 200t.
All claims for payment must be submitted by October 31, 2023.