Payments in the region of €9 million will be arriving in around 3,100 farmers’ bank accounts shortly from the Tillage Incentive Scheme (TIS), the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine confirmed today (Wednesday, December 21).
Minister Charlie McConalogue said outstanding payments of around €1 million will also be “made as quickly as possible”.
The TIS was first launched in March 2022 as part of a range of government supports designed to help farmers impacted by the Ukraine war.
The scheme was designed to support farmers to “sow additional eligible tillage crops in 2022 to help reduce the dependency on imported animal feed materials”.
Minister McConalogue said today: “I am very pleased to see the success of the Tillage Incentive Scheme and to see payments of €400 per hectare issuing to so many farmers.
“Farmers really bought into the Tillage Incentive Scheme and it is great to see the interest that was there for it from farmers. The scheme was introduced at an early stage in 2022 and it is great to see farmers respond to supports put in place.“
The minister McConalogue also outlined that the TIS will continue in 2023 with a budget in place of €10 million for the scheme.
Under the terms of the TIS, farmers who participated in the 2022 scheme will receive a payment of €200 per hectare if they maintain the land in eligible tillage crops in 2023.
A payment of €400 per hectare will also be available to farmers in 2023 for any additional land converted to tillage crops.
Tillage support payments
Meanwhile payments are also being made from a number of other support schemes to tillage farmers at this time.
Over €10 million in payments have started under the Protein Aid Scheme, the Protein Cereal Mix Scheme, and the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM).
Under the SIM, more than €10.6 million will be paid to approximately 2,400 tillage farmers.
Payments of more than €3.2 million have also got underway to around 1,000 farmers, who took part in the Protein Aid Scheme and the Protein/Cereal Mix Crop Scheme.