Latest news with #BasicIncomeSupportforSustainability
Agriland
09-06-2025
- General
- Agriland
DAFM to begin issuing letters to farmers on derogation reduction
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is to begin writing to farmers who will be impacted by a reduction in the maximum allowable nitrogen (N) stocking rate under the nitrates derogation. In April, the department published a map highlighting which areas of the country that, from December 1 this year, will see the maximum allowable amount of N on the farm holding decrease from 250kgN/ha to 220kgN/kg. These areas are in addition to the large swathe of the country that reduced to that limit on January 1 of 2024. After publishing the map, the department said it was in the progress of identifying exactly which farmers are in these additional areas, and would therefore see a limit of 220kgN/ha apply from December 1 next. The department said the individualised letters would issue as soon as possible, to herds with stocking rates greater than 170kgN/ha in 2024 prior to exports, and those herds who applied for a nitrates derogation in 2023 or 2024 that have at least one Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) parcel that is moving to the 220kgN/ha derogation stocking rate limit from December. One letter, seen by Agriland, explains that, under the conditionality attached to Ireland's current nitrates derogation, the maximum nitrates derogation stocking rate is reducing to 220kgN/ha in some additional areas with effect from December 1, 2025. These additional areas are where the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have identified a need for nitrate reduction measures 'as a priority' to improve water quality. The department explains that, if a farmer has land parcels that will be in the 220kgN/ha zone from December 1, then the stocking rate limit for that land for the whole year of 2025 become 247.5kgN/ha (250kgN/ha for 11 months and 220kgN/ha for one month). The letter states that any changes to land parcels submitted under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) in 2025 compared to last year will influence nitrates allowance. Farmers are advised to check this maximum stocking relate allowance if they have submitted alternative land under BISS this year, which can be done on an interactive map on the department's website. If a farmer has any part of a parcel within an area remaining at 250kgN/ha, then the whole parcel will remain at that higher limit rather than 220kgN/ha.
Agriland
06-06-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Opportunities to correct BISS applications without penalty
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has advised farmers of two important opportunities regarding corrections to their 2025 Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based scheme applications. The department is currently carrying out preliminary checks to identify any over-claims, overlaps or dual claims made in BISS applications. Notifications will be issued where the department error on the farmer's 2025 BISS application. In 2025, the department estimated that around 4,600 herds will receive a preliminary check notification. In the event that a farmer or their advisor receives a preliminary check notification, they should log on to and respond before the deadline of June 23, 2025. DAFM The department has also informed farmed that notifications relating to the Area Monitoring System (AMS) are due to begin from June 24, for 'a minority of farmers'. Under the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the AMS is mandatory across all EU member states to monitor compliance with farm scheme criteria. The system uses Copernicus Sentinel satellite data which is gathered automatically every five days and stored to provide up-to-date information as required. The first round of AMS notifications is for the potential presence of artificial surfaces, for example: buildings, farmyard extensions and farm roadways, in land parcel(s). Farmers or their advisor will have 14 days from the notification date to respond to the AMS notification. DAFM said that further rounds of AMS notifications will issue from July 2025 onwards. 'These preliminary checks and AMS notifications allow the farmer the opportunity to rectify issues with their BISS and other area-based scheme applications, without penalty. 'Farmers and advisors should check the correspondence section of their online account. 'Where a farmer is signed up for text message alerts, a text will issue to advise them that they have a notification on their account,' a DAFM spokesperson said. DAFM added that should farmers wish to contact the department they can do so at: 057 867 4422 in relation to queries on their BISS and other area-based schemes application, preliminary checks notifications, AMS notifications; 049 436 8288 in relation to queries on registering for – for example queries on lost passwords, how to register; AMS@ in relation to queries on AMS notifications
Agriland
27-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
How many BISS applications were made in your county this year?
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed that Cork was again the county with the highest number of applications for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based schemes this year. In total, 123,705 scheme applications were submitted from across the country by the deadline of Wednesday, May 15. This is down from 124,274 scheme applications in 2024. This year's figure includes 2,792 temporary reference number applications which are numbers assigned to allow an application until the herd number application has been completed. BISS The DAFM received 12,181 applications on behalf of farmers in Co. Cork for BISS and other area-based schemes in 2025, which is down from 12,344 in the previous year. Galway was the county with the second-highest number of applications at 11,603, followed by Co. Mayo with 10,942. The county with the lowest number of applications was Dublin with 607, followed by Louth with 1,442 and Carlow with 1,591. The following table provides a county-by-county breakdown for the number of BISS and other area-based scheme applications made to DAFM by May 15: County Total applications Carlow 1,591 Cavan 4,731 Clare 5,893 Cork 12,181 Donegal 8,771 Dublin 607 Galway 11,603 Kerry 7,532 Kildare 2,030 Kilkenny 3,134 Laois 2,723 Leitrim 3,365 Limerick 4,829 Longford 2,325 Louth 1,442 Mayo 10,942 Meath 3,671 Monaghan 4,032 Offaly 2,763 Roscommon 5,480 Sligo 3,819 Tipperary 6,404 Waterford 2,263 Westmeath 2,929 Wexford 3,775 Wicklow 2,078 Temporary reference numbers 2,792 Total 123,705 Source: DAFM Where farmers have made their BISS and other area based schemes application, but now wish to make an amendment, they may make such changes online at until midnight on Saturday (May 31) without any penalty. If a change made to a BISS online application leads to a farmer having insufficient land to use all of their entitlements, they will have the opportunity to submit a transfer of entitlements application up until midnight on May 31, 2025. This is only available to farmers who can show that they have made a change to their BISS application by May 31, 2025 and that change has directly led to the need to transfer entitlements. The department has reminded farmers that scheme applications will be accepted after the May 15 closing date, however a 1% per day penalty will be applied in these instances.
Agriland
26-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Department publishes list of CAP beneficiaries for 2024
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has published the annual list of who benefitted from payments under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the 2024 programme year. The department is required to publish the information before the end of May in each year following the year in question. The data, published today (Monday, May 26) outlines how much money was received by each beneficiary across all aspects of CAP across Pillar I and Pillar II. The beneficiaries can be legal persons, or an entity, such as a farm that operates with a business name. The data cover the CAP expenditure period of October 16, 2023 to October 15, 2024. Therefore, the publication today is the first such publication that covers an entire year of the current 2023-2027 CAP under Ireland's CAP Strategic Plan, as last year's publication (for 2023) included the last couple of months of 2022, which was part of a 'rolled-over' CAP programme that officially came to an end in 2020. For this reason, there are some differences in how funding is recorded under various measures. For example, in this year's publication, the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) is listed separately to direct payments. In last year's CAP beneficiaries publication, neither BISS, nor its predecessor the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), were listed as separate items. Focusing at first on payments listed under the direct payments measure, the data shows the largest amount of direct payment funding for a single beneficiary was €181,541.42, for 'Reps' of Harry O'Farrell, of Co. Roscommon. This was followed by 'Reps' of Matthew & Alan Ward, of Co. Clare, with €136,829.19. The third highest recipient was 'Reps' of Deirdre Bourns, of Co. Galway, with €113,422.47. The top 10 recipients of direct payments for 2024 are outlined in the table below: Beneficiary County Amount Reps of Harry O'Farrell Roscommon €181,541.42 Reps of Matthew & Alan Ward Clare €136,829.19 Reps of Deirdre Bourns Galway €113,422.47 Reps of James Butler Kilkenny €102,542.88 Alan Carson Mayo €91,325.07 Reps of Michael J Towey Roscommon €89,956.50 Reps of James T Neale Carlow €88,237.81 Curraghdermot Farms Limited Cork €88,010.57 Reps of John & T O'Callaghan Cork €87,123.27 David & Aidan Fennin Kildare €74,766.84 Source: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Turning to CAP payments listed under the BISS measure, the highest amount paid out was €120,255.98 to Tallon Farm, of Co. Meath. The next highest payment was to a recipient recorded as 'Ghillsdltd Tbrownaodonovan', of Co. Cork, which received €119,865.30. The third highest BISS payment went to Park Farms Partnership in Co. Carlow, which received €115,866.86. The top 10 beneficiaries of BISS for 2024 are outlined in the table below: Beneficiary County Amount Tallon Farm Meath €120,255.98 Ghillsdltd Tbrownaodonovan Cork €119,865.30 Park Farm Partnership Carlow €115,866.86 Gillstown Dairy Partnership Meath €114,564.30 Reps of K & M & B Byrne Kildare €113,589.14 Shanrahan Farms Tipperary €108,920.69 Darmody Brosfarm Partnership Tipperary €101,075.61 Tara Agri Offaly €95,941.59 Power Farm Partnership Kilkenny €92,654.80 Lisbeg Dairies Galway €92,572.89 Source: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Agriland
19-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
BISS: 123,700 applications received by deadline
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has confirmed that 123,705 farmers applied online for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based schemes before the May 15 deadline. This is a slight decrease on the number of farmers that applied for BISS and related measures in 2024, which was 124,274. Applications will be accepted after the 15 May closing date. However, there will be a 1% per day penalty on payments, as per the terms and conditions of BISS. The area-based application includes a range of schemes apart from BISS, including: Eco Scheme; Complementary Redistribution Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS); Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers (CIS-YF); Protein Aid Scheme; Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM); Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) Scheme; Multi Species Sward Measure (MSSM) and Red Clover Silage Measure (RCSM); Annual claims for Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) and the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS). There were 33,951 applications received to transfer payment entitlements. However, if a change made to a BISS online application leads to a farmer having insufficient land to use all of their entitlements, they will have the opportunity to submit a Transfer of Entitlements application up until midnight on May 31, 2025. This facility is only available to farmers who can show that they have made a change to their BISS application by May 31, and that change has directly led to the need to transfer entitlements. Minister Heydon commented: 'Area-based support schemes are of critical importance to farmers. One of the key milestones is the May 15 deadline and I'm delighted that so many farmers have submitted their forms on time.' The minister added: 'This figure reflects the massive effort made by farmers, FAS Advisors and by my department in assisting farmers with these schemes and their various requirements. 'I want to particularly acknowledge the advisory services again this year, who have worked extremely hard with their client farmers to meet a range of application deadlines in recent months.' The minister said: 'To support farmers, my department held 16 one-to-one clinics around the country. Almost 1,441 farmers were assisted at these events with a further 338 receiving direct help at the public office in Portlaoise. 'The Direct Payments Helpdesk of my department made and received over 10,110 calls to farmers since April 1, to help them with their applications and queries,' he added. 'I want every eligible farmer to maximise their payments because I and everyone in my department knows how crucial they are to farm families,' Minister Heydon said.
