The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has today (Wednesday, August 30) announced that the claim system is now open for the multi-species sward and red clover silage measures.
The schemes opened for applications in April of this year, with a budget of €2.5 million.
These measures were introduced to promote environmentally sustainable methods of farming, which will have a positive impact on climate emissions, biodiversity and water quality.
An increased payment rate of up to €300/ha is being allowed for the measures as part of the government’s response to meeting increased input costs, the department said.
DAFM
Farmers who applied for the measures can now upload their claims for payment through the agfood.ie portal.
After signing into the online system, applicants should select “AgSchemes – Applications for Payment” and then select the relevant measure from the scheme drop-down menu.
Applicants must have declared the appropriate crop code for the respective parcel on their 2023 Basic Income Support Scheme (BISS) application.
Supporting documents, such as invoices and seed labels, must also be uploaded to agfood.ie to support the claim for payment.
In order to allow sufficient time for documents to be uploaded, DAFM said the closing date for receipt of claims has been extended to midnight on Friday, September 29, 2023.
The department added that only seed purchased after the applicant’s expression of interest to participate in the respective measure was lodged on agfood.ie and before the final date for sowing the crop (July 15, 2023) can be considered eligible for aid.
Multi-species swards
Trial work carried out by University College Dublin’s (UCD’s) School of Agriculture and Food Science has shown that the use of multi-species swards lowers the levels of nitrogen (N) fertiliser application on farms by at least 60%, when compared to typical swards.
Along with a significant reduction in N use, the researchers found there was a huge increase in the amount of fodder grown when this type of sward is used.
Initial findings from the ongoing research have shown that specific types of multi-species swards can produce up to 25% more herbage for cattle.
Research carried out on red clover silage has shown these swards to be higher in protein than conventional silage and have an ability to yield over 14t dry matter per hectare (DM/ha).