69,403 farmers have applied for the Fodder Support Scheme, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed to Agriland.
The deadline for applications for the €56 million scheme was midnight on Tuesday (August 2).
The DAFM previously told Agriland that up to 9:00a.m on July 22, 38,737 farmers had applied for the support.
This means that over 30,000 farmers applied for the scheme between that date and the deadline.
By the closing date, Galway was the county with the highest number of applications at 7,096, followed by Mayo with 6,434 and Cork with 5,733.
Dublin, Louth and Carlow were the counties with the lowest number of applicants.
The following table provides a county-by-county breakdown of applications for the Fodder Support Scheme made to the department.
County Number of applications Carlow 974 Cavan 3,009 Clare 4,021 Cork 5,733 Donegal 3,926 Dublin 231 Galway 7,096 Kerry 3,485 Kildare 1,011 Kilkenny 1,645 Laois 1,656 Leitrim 2,314 Limerick 2,477 Longford 1,844 Louth 708 Mayo 6,434 Meath 2,035 Monaghan 2,645 Offaly 1,806 Roscommon 4,335 Sligo 2,475 Tipperary 3,480 Waterford 1,014 Westmeath 2,038 Wexford 1,973 Wicklow 1,038 Total 69,403
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.
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.
At least 5% of participants in the scheme will be selected for inspection by the department, with a further 3% subject to administrative checks.