A farm organisation is urging Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon to allocate additional funding for the cohort of 'Forgotten Farmers'.

It was announced this week that following the survey carried out in May 2025, the scheme to support Long Established Young Farmers – commonly referred to as ‘Forgotten Farmers’ – is open for submission of online applications.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine was allocated €5 million in Budget 2025 to provide support to this group. Applicants can avail of a payment of up to €5,000 (depending on application numbers).

'Forgotten Farmers' is a group defined as young farmers who were under the age of 40 in 2015, had commenced in agriculture prior to 2008, did not receive young farmer installation aid, and were not eligible for young farmer supports under CAP from 2015 due to the date they had first set up.

Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) rural development chair John Curran said the scheme is "long overdue".

However, he said that what’s on the table here "falls far short of what the installation aid was in the past, and that’s what we were looking for".

"We made this clear with the minister yesterday when we met to discuss our overall priorities for the upcoming budget," Curran said.

"The minister needs to follow through on this, secure the necessary funding and ensure all forgotten farmers are not forgotten again.

“All eligible farmers, including those starting out in 2008 and thereafter, should get at least the equivalent amount as they would have received under the installation aid."