A total of 12,500 farmers have now received payments totaling more than €6.6 million from the National Liming Programme 2023.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine said today (Tuesday, December 19) that all fully cleared claims by farmers have received their “full payment” and that remaining claims have received an 85% advance.
According to Minister Charlie McConalogue more than 14,500 farmers submitted claims for payment under the 2023 liming programme.
He said: “The final balancing payment will issue in 2024 when checks are completed following the spreading deadline of March 31.
“Where claims have been found to be deficient these will be sent for payment as they are resolved.”
National Liming Programme
The programme was supported as a once-off Ukraine funded measure from the National Exchequer to assist in reducing input costs for farmers.
Its key aim was to “incentivise farmers to purchase and spread calcium ground limestone or magnesium ground limestone”.
Farmers could get a financial contribution of €16/per tonne of lime delivered and spread on their land.
According to Minister McConalogue when he introduced the National Liming Programme he had been mindful of the fact that research indicated “that increasing soil pH to optimum levels leads to a significant reduction in nitrous oxide emissions while simultaneously increasing grass and other crop yields”.
He believes that the level of participation in the programme shows “the willingness of farmers to play their part in our climate and environmental ambitions” and “is a very positive indicator for the future resilience of the Irish agri food sector”.
At one stage quarries had stopped taking orders from farmers for lime because they were unable to commit to processing invoices in time to facilitate farmer claims.
As a result the Minister for Agriculture extended the original deadline of October 31, to submit claims under the National Liming Programme 2023 to November 7.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) by the new closing date it had received “over 14,500 claims for payment with a potential eligible tonnage exceeding 529,000 tonnes giving rise to a potential payment of almost €8.5 million”.
The initial budget for the programme had been €8 million.
National Fertiliser Database
Minister McConalogue today reminded suppliers that all lime deliveries must be recorded by the fertiliser economic operator or supplier on the National Fertiliser Database.
“This will facilitate checks on farmers that have forward bought lime for spreading up to the end of March 2024 with minimal administrative burden on farmers and the department,” he added.