Nearly 39,000 Irish farmers apply for fodder grant scheme

Almost 39,000 applications have been made to the Fodder Support Scheme in Ireland. The number could rise as farmers have until August 2 to apply to the €56m (£47m) scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to incentivise and support farmers to grow sufficient grass and conserve sufficient silage and hay ahead of this winter.

The payment rate will be up to €100 per eligible hectare, on up to a maximum of 10 hectares. Payments are expected to begin in late November 2022. A recent Teagasc farm survey showed that one-in-eight farms has not saved sufficient winter fodder yet.

The scheme is open to all farmers who submitted a BPS application in 2022 and are not, as of May 16, in a milk supply contract. Grassland declared on the applicant's 2022 BPS is eligible for the scheme but arable land is not.