Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has announced the opening of a new measure to support the formation and establishment of producer organisations (POs) in the agri-food sector.

The Early-Stage Support for Producer Organisations (ESSPO) scheme is a multi-annual measure under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan.

The minister said it aims to support groups of producers to form recognised POs across seven sectors, namely beef, sheep, milk, potato, tillage, plant amenity, and fruit and vegetables.

The ESSPO will support POs over their first three years after recognition. Grant funding, up to a maximum of €10,000 annually, will be available for administrative functions during that period.

Those grants are intended to contribute to eligible administrative costs, including the engagement of administrative human resources and the purchase of relevant technology.

A separate grant of €3,000 is available to cover the costs of engaging "approved facilitators" for legal and business advice on producer organisation formation and the submission of an application.

The ESSPO scheme is co-funded by the government and the EU under the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. Applications for recognition will be accepted on a rolling basis from 2025 to 2027.

Applicant POs must:

Be set up on the initiative of producers and be led by producers;
Have a minimum of 20 members for beef, milk and sheep POs, or 5 members for the other sectors;
Be registered as a legal entity or a clearly defined part of a legal entity;
For the fruit and vegetable sector, have a combined value of marketed production (VMP) of more than €2.5 million;
For the potato, tillage and amenity plant sectors, have a combined VMP of more than €1.5 million.

The closing date for the first tranche of applications is May 28, 2025, but the scheme will be opened to receive further applications at regular intervals after that.

Opening the scheme, Minister Heydon cited the benefits of "farmer collaboration".

“POs are a valuable tool for primary producers to strengthen their collective bargaining power in the food supply chain. This scheme will support farmers in a wide array of sectors who wish to work together in producer organisations to negotiate collectively on behalf of their members," the minister said.

"Members can achieve common interests by working together to pool resources, plan production, concentrate supply, improve marketing and share knowledge under the umbrella of a recognised PO," he added.

The minister noted that the number of recognised POs in Ireland is low, compared to other EU countries.

"Groups need ongoing support in their early years and this scheme will provide that funding. I urge all farmers to read the scheme terms and conditions on my department’s website, join with like-minded producers to form a PO, consult an advisor, and submit an application," Minister Heydon said.