The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has issued €4.2 million in scheme payments to farmers this week.
The biggest payment up to last Friday (November 15) was in relation to the 2024 Eco Scheme, where 113,625 farmers have now been paid. Over €2 million was paid this week alone (€2,660,086.94).
The aim of Ireland’s Eco-Scheme is to reward farmers for undertaking actions beneficial to the climate, environment, water quality and biodiversity
Payments also continued under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) with €153,244 paid out under TAMS 2 and €1,334,489 paid out under TAMS 3.
TAMS 2 payments now stand at €461.482 million, with 37,766 payment applications submitted and 56,676 approvals issued to date. A total of 37,441 payments have been made.
TAMS 3 payments stand at €26.557 million, with 4,143 payment applications submitted and 18,645 approvals to date. A total of 2,884 payments have been made so far.
Scheme payments
Participants in the Green, Low-carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) received an additional €76,000 this week. GLAS payments made eligible to applicants in 2022 cost €179.19 million.
The GLAS Scheme requires all participants to attend a single compulsory GLAS Training course, which the department has evaluated to cost €11.71 million.
Following on from payments totalling €9,055 under the Fodder Support Scheme last week, a further €8,614.44 was paid under the scheme this week.
The scheme was designed to “incentivise” farmers to grow sufficient grass and conserve fodder. So far, €52.75 million has been paid to 71,422 farmers.
The scheme supported the movement of 48,132 bales and 19,114 tonnes of fodder following weather challenges arising last spring, according to Teagasc.