Farmers who are participating in the Protein Aid Scheme are set to receive payments totaling €8.5 million, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, confirmed today (Thursday, December 7).
The Protein Aid Scheme is a payment for growing beans, peas, and lupins and an estimated 1,350 farmers have signed up to the scheme.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) these crops are not only “nitrogen-fixing” but a source of protein for animal feed.
Minister Charlie McConalogue said that payments from the scheme should be “visible in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days”.
The minister added: “The payment provided under this scheme is an important support for tillage farmers for the growing of protein crops, including beans, peas, lupins and the protein cereal mix crop.
“These protein crops deliver a range of environmental benefits in addition to reducing our reliance on imported sources of protein for animal feed.
“In recognition of these benefits, funding under the Protein Aid Scheme was more than doubled in the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan to provide an increased budget of €35 million over the lifetime of the plan.”
Payment
DAFM had previously outlined that the individual payment rate depended on the uptake of the scheme but it is likely to be in the region of €500 to €590 per hectare for beans, peas, lupins, and soya in 2023.
The protein/cereal mix crop is expected to be paid at half the full protein crop rate at approximately €250 to €270 per hectare, it also stated.
Minister McConalogue said: “The Protein Aid Scheme has proven extremely popular with tillage farmers in 2023, seeing a 50% increase in the total hectares sown to protein crops over previous years.
“As a result, I have provided an additional €3 million in funding above the already increased annual budget of €7 million bringing the total protein aid budget in 2023 to €10 million.”
According to the minister payments will continue to issue to the tillage sector with the Tillage Incentive Scheme and the Straw Incorporation Measure, which are due to begin issuing payments in the coming week.
ACRES
However Minister McConalogue also confirmed this week that payments to farmers in the Cooperation Project (CP) stream of the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) for will be delayed until next year.
Payments under tranche 1 of the agri-environmental scheme will commence on the week beginning December 18 but payments for ACRES CP participants will now issue until February 2024.
Farm organisations have urged Minister McConalogue to “do whatever is needed” to ensure all farmers who are participating in the ACRES CP stream receive their payment before Christmas.