The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has outlined that the total paid this week to participants in the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) was €7,059,040.67.
Earlier this week the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pippa Hackett, announced the start of the 2023 balancing payments under the OFS.
Over 85% of farmers in the OFS were expected to receive their balancing payments this week.
Minister Hackett had said the processing of payments would happen “as a matter of urgency”.
She said: “The timely processing of payments is a key priority for [the] department. I know how crucial payments are, especially after the difficult winter we have had.
“The land area in organics has trebled in the last three years… These OFS payments are a key support measure, and I would encourage all farmers to have an open mind about their farming enterprise, to crunch the numbers and consider whether it makes sense for them too to become an organic farmer.”
A total budget of €256 million has been allocated to the OFS over the lifetime of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan.
DAFM
Meanwhile according to DAFM’s latest scheme payments update to May 31, 2024 there was also €63,662.49 paid out this week under the 2022 Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) and Areas of Specific Constraint (ASC).
In relation to the Green, Low-carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) there were payments made of €0.009.
According to DAFM under the Fodder Support Scheme (FSS) 2023 there was a total €436,699.43 paid out this week
The 2023 (BISS) will be the basis of eligibility for the FSS last year – which was a continuance of the previous year’s scheme – and had been designed to “incentivise farmers to grow sufficient grass and conserve fodder (silage and/or hay) for the 2023 winter”.
The overall budget for the 2023 FSS was €53 million.
Because of very challenging wet weather conditions during a number of months earlier this year the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, faced pressure to re-open the scheme in 2024 but no plans emerged for a FSS this year.
Separately DAFM has also confirmed that €215,052.58 was paid out under the 2023 Eco Scheme in the week to May 31, 2024.
DAFM also issued a total of €177,238 in payments under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS).
Farmers who are taking part in the Protein Aid Scheme – where they receive a payment for growing beans, peas, and lupins – also received a total of €27,838.26 in payments this week.
The latest scheme payments update from the department also shows that payments under the Straw Incorporation Measure 2023 to farmers totaled €122,114.24 while payments under the Tillage Incentive Scheme (TIS) 2023 payments this week amounted to €26,986.