Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has confirmed a €46.2 million funding package to support farmers facing fertiliser cost spikes caused by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

The scheme will see a payment rate of €40/t.

The funding combines Ireland’s €15.38 million allocation from the EU Fertiliser Exceptional Aid package with the maximum allowable national top-up of 200%, or €30.8 million.

This exceptional aid package will deliver financial support before the end of this year to those impacted by increased fertiliser costs.

The scheme will use existing data on purchases of fertiliser held on the National Fertiliser Database for the 2025 fertiliser year (September 15, 2024 to September 14, 2025) to identify farmers most impacted by higher input costs, to define eligibility for payment and to calculate payments.

This is intended to minimise the administrative burden on farmers and to make payments before the end of 2026.

Farmers will not have to apply to avail of support under the Scheme.

Eligibility and payment rates will be based on the following criteria:

BISS Active Status: Farmers must have submitted valid applications for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) scheme in 2026;
National Fertiliser Database (NFD) registration: Farmers must be registered on the National Fertiliser Database as a Fertiliser End User;
Fertiliser purchase data: Payments will be calculated directly from purchasing data recorded on the database for the 2025 fertiliser year.

The minimum tonnage of chemical fertiliser eligible for payment under the scheme is 2.5t, and the maximum tonnage for which support will be granted will be up to 100t.

The rate per tonne will be €40/t and the minimum payment under the scheme will be €100.

The department will take an extract of data from the National Fertiliser Database on October 23 next, and the amount of fertiliser per farmer recorded on the database at this time will determine eligibility for the scheme and be used as the basis for calculating payments.

Farmers and the merchants they sourced their fertiliser from must ensure all purchasing record data for the 2025 fertiliser year on the database is fully accurate and up to date ahead of October 23.

Minister Heydon commented: "The continuing volatility in the Middle East has had a significant impact on Irish farm input costs and put pressure on margins.

The minister added: "By using data already held by the department on the National Fertiliser Database and [BISS] records, the scheme will remove any extra administrative burden on farmers.

"This data is a good representation of the group of farmers most impacted by higher input costs, specifically fertiliser costs, and the payments made under this scheme will be a valuable liquidity support which can assist them dealing with these increased on-farm costs," he said.

Minister Heydon said the minimum level of fertiliser use will "ensure payments are received by the maximum number of farmers most impacted by higher fertiliser costs".

The minister explained that, when the amount of fertiliser eligible for support is confirmed, he will finalise the maximum payable tonnage per farmer, up to a maximum 100t.

For new entrant farmers and young farmers who do not have a record of fertiliser purchases in the 2025 fertiliser year - as they may only have commenced farming in 2026 - the minister has proposed that, for those who have submitted a BISS application in 2026, their purchase records for the 2026 fertiliser year will be used to calculate payment.

For horticulture producers who may not submit applications for BISS, the eligibility requirement for them to receive payment under the scheme is to have, for 2026, a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine-issued Plant Health Registration Number or Horticulture Food Registration Number.

Further details regarding the exact payment rates per tonne to be paid under the scheme are set to be published by the department in the coming weeks.