Almost 39,000 farmers have now applied for the Fodder Support Scheme, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed.
The deadline for farmers to apply for the €56 million scheme is now just over a week away – applications must be made through the Exceptional Aid System on the agfood website by Tuesday, August 2.
Launched by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, the scheme aims to incentivise farmers to grow more silage and/or hay ahead of next winter and spring to avoid a fodder crisis.
The measure is part of the government response to the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on agricultural input costs.
The payment rate will be up to €100/ha, up to a maximum of 10ha, those payments are expected to begin issuing in late November.
The DAFM told Agriland that up to 9:00a.m on July 22, 38,737 farmers applied for the support.
Galway is currently the county with the highest number of applications at 4,086, followed by Mayo on 3,417 and Cork with 3,168.
Dublin, Louth and Carlow have the lowest number of applicants.
The following table provides a county-by-county breakdown of current applications made to the department:
County Total Applications Carlow 494 Cavan 1,732 Clare 2,126 Cork 3,168 Donegal 1,770 Dublin 101 Galway 4,086 Kerry 1,640 Kildare 630 Kilkenny 1,066 Laois 1,088 Leitrim 1,142 Limerick 1,307 Longford 1,157 Louth 411 Mayo 3,417 Meath 1,181 Monaghan 1,414 Offaly 1,024 Roscommon 2,922 Sligo 1,412 Tipperary 2,108 Waterford 623 Westmeath 1,126 Wexford 1,016 Wicklow 576 TOTAL 38,737
Farmers who apply for the scheme will be asked to confirm and agree to cut and conserve silage and or hay by September 5, 2022.
Applicants must declare the total number of hectares of grassland they intend to cut for fodder this year.
Only grassland parcels are eligible for inclusion, tillage land is not eligible to receive support under this scheme.
The department noted that at least 5% of participants in the scheme will be selected for inspection with a further 3% subject to administrative checks.