Over 8,000 farmers have already applied for the National Liming Programme, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed to Agriland.

The €8 million programme was launched by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue last month to help farmers to "offset part of the expense of using lime".

The key objective of the scheme is to support farmers to deal with input costs and also help them reduce the need for artificial fertilisers.

The programme will provide financial support to farmers of €16/t of lime spread to participating farmers, to offset part of the cost of applying calcium ground limestone (CaCo3) or magnesium (dolomitic) ground limestone (CaMg (CO3)2).

According to a DAFM spokesperson, the scheme, which opened for applications on March 15, has received "a high level of interest to date".

As of Thursday morning (April 6), the department said that over 8,000 applications from farmers have been received. The liming programme will remain open for applications until April 20.

This programme aims to incentivise the use of ground limestone a natural soil conditioner, which corrects soil acidity by neutralising the acids present in the soil.

The Teagasc Soil Fertility Report in 2022 indicated while soil fertility nationally has improved it is still estimated that up to “57% of soils require lime”.

High annual rainfall along with crop and livestock production can remove lime from soils.

Research has also shown that increasing soil pH to optimum levels leads to a significant reduction in nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions while simultaneously increasing grass and other crop yields.

Farmers still have just under two weeks to apply to the department for the funding.

However, it should be noted that in order to qualify for the payment there are a number of conditions that must be met:

A farmer or advisor must sign up to participate in the programme through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) online service;
They must indicate on applications the quantity of lime they intend to purchase and spread;
Lime can only be purchased directly from quarries licenced by the DAFM to manufacture and market liming materials;
Applicants that have submitted a Basic Payment scheme (BPS) application in 2022 and/or a Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) application in 2023 are eligible to apply;
Farmers that have a Nitrates Derogation in 2022 or 2023 and farmers with a grassland stocking rate above 170kg livestock manure nitrogen/ha prior to export in 2022 are not eligible to take part in the programme;
Herd owners who are are participating or plan to participate in the 2023 Eco-Scheme practice relating to soil sampling and liming are not eligible to participate;
The following land categories are also excluded from the programme: Commonage land, forestry, lands under Natura 2000, NHA/pNHA designation as well as Annex 1 grassland and environmentally sensitive permanent grassland;
Ground limestone can only be applied in accordance with the lime requirement stated on up-to-date soil analysis reports (maximum of four years old from date of purchasing the lime).
According to DAFM – based on budget availability – payment will be made on a minimum of 10t of ground limestone and a maximum of 200t.

The department of agriculture said that all claims for payment must be submitted by October 31, 2023.