Approximately 350 farmers are yet to receive their Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) advance payment, according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
Advance payments to organic farmers commenced on December 7, 2023. To date approximately 90% of scheme participants have received advance payments.
The DAFM confirmed to Agriland that it is working to finalise the payments for the remaining 10% of participants. The majority of these payments will issue within the next eight weeks.
Of the approximately 350 organic farmers that have not yet received their OFS advance payment, 77 are in farm partnerships, according to the DAFM.
In the fourth week of 2024, the DAFM paid €350,680 to farmers under the OFS. A total of 3,673 farmers have now received a total of almost €37 million under the 2023 OFS.
Farm partnerships
There are no specific rules under the OFS affecting farm partnerships, the DAFM said. One of the 77 organic farmers yet to receive their payment is Laois dairy farmer Maria Phelan.
Speaking to Agriland, Phelan, who has been an organic farmer for the past 13 years, said she is aware of 60 other farmers in farm partnerships who are also affected by the delay.
However, she said the issue of delayed payments has been ongoing for years, and claimed that in previous years she had to wait until June and even August for the organic payment.
The scheme payment is “necessary” for farmers in order to farm organically, Phelan said, and further claimed that some farmers are awaiting payments worth up to €60,000.