Farmers have been reminded that the end of the month (Thursday, October 31) marks the latest date for spreading lime in the 2023 National Liming Programme.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) confirmed that there will be no further extensions to the deadline date.

The Liming Programme was introduced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue in Spring 2023.

Over 14,500 claims were submitted under the National Liming Programme with advance payments issued to farmers in December 2023.

DAFM confirmed that over €7.6 million has been paid out to date, while over 8,000 applicants have received their full payment.

Balancing payments will issue to remaining farmers as proof of spreading is confirmed, including through the National the Fertiliser Database, and outstanding queries are addressed.

The programme was introduced to incentivise the use of lime as a natural soil conditioner which corrects soil acidity, making nutrients more available for plant uptake and improve overall soil health.

Most farmers have taken soil samples in the past two years, as it is a requirement for all farmers in the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) and for farmers stocked over 130kg N/ha.

Where the soil samples have identified fields with a low soil pH, lime should be applied. The maximum eligible application rate is 7.5t/ha.

However, ground limestone can only be applied in accordance with the lime requirement stated on up-to-date soil analysis reports (maximum of fours years old from date of purchase).

To be eligible for this measure, all invoices had to be uploaded in one claim (a maximum of five invoices can be submitted) on agfood.ie by November 7, 2023.