Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has today (Friday, December 6) announced that payments have begun issuing to farmers under the Protein Aid Scheme.
The scheme was introduced to provide support to tillage farmers in establishing nitrogen-fixing crops, which are of huge environmental benefit, in addition to reducing the dependency on imported protein for use in animal feeds.
Minister McConalogue stated: “We can confirm that payments totalling €9 million have commenced issuing under the 2024 Protein Aid Scheme and will be visible in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days.
“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,” the minister continued.
He explained that the Protein Aid Scheme has proven extremely popular with tillage farmers in 2024, with the total area increasing to over 21,600ha.
“Payments will continue to issue to the tillage sector via the Straw Incorporation Measure which are due to commence issuing next week. This builds on payments already made under the Tillage Incentive Scheme which were paid in late November,” Minister McConalogue added.
Protein Aid Scheme
The Protein Aid Scheme is a voluntary coupled support scheme funded by the EU as part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
It was Introduced to provide support for the growing of protein crops to counter act the dependence on imported protein for use in animal feeds.
In 2024, €10 million has been set aside for the Protein Aid Scheme, and payments are now commencing for the approximately 1,650 applicants.
The rate for this year has been set at €493/ha for beans, peas, lupins and soya, with a half rate payment of €246.50/ha for the Protein Cereal Mix.
DAFM has said that payments may take up to five days to reach farmers’ accounts.
County Number paid Amount paid (€) Carlow 95 527,242.33 Cavan 5 13,285.62 Clare 1 628.58 Cork 222 1,159,496.59 Donegal 11 17,996.98 Dublin 76 681,860.91 Galway 13 36,767.96 Kerry 10 28,732.40 Kildare 115 835,550.97 Kilkenny 83 473,426.71 Laois 95 442,386.20 Limerick 3 17,745.54 Longford 4 11,526.34 Louth 70 413,966.53 Mayo 5 7,317.36 Meath 146 1,379,320.38 Monaghan 12 22,751.67 Offaly 71 297,704.01 Roscommon 8 10,873.13 Sligo 3 2,625.23 Tipperary 66 345,405.44 Waterford 25 141,677.34 Westmeath 39 324,913.66 Wexford 280 1,437,476.58 Wicklow 68 404,303.18 Total 1,526 9,034,984.64
In line with previous years, not all applications are currently cleared for payment under the Protein Aid Scheme.
Regular pay runs will continue in the coming weeks to ensure cleared cases are processed for payment as quickly as possible, according to the department.