Ireland's Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, has confirmed a €46.2 million package to help farmers with fertiliser costs that spiked because of the crisis in the Middle East, Agriland reports. The scheme combines Ireland's €15.38 million share of the EU Fertiliser Exceptional Aid package with the maximum national top-up of 200 percent, €30.8 million.
Farmers will not have to apply. Payments, at €40 a tonne, will be calculated from purchases recorded on the National Fertiliser Database for the 2025 fertiliser year, 15 September 2024 to 14 September 2025, and are intended to be made before the end of 2026. To qualify, farmers must have made a valid 2026 application to the Basic Income Support for Sustainability scheme and be registered on the database as fertiliser end users.
The minimum eligible quantity is 2.5 tonnes of chemical fertiliser and the maximum up to 100 tonnes, with a minimum payment of €100. The department will take its extract of the database on 23 October, so farmers and their merchants must make sure purchase records are complete and accurate before then. The minister will set the final maximum tonnage per farmer once eligible quantities are confirmed.
New entrants and young farmers who started in 2026 and have no 2025 purchases will be paid on their 2026 records if they made a 2026 basic income support application, and horticulture growers who do not apply for that scheme qualify with a department plant health or horticulture registration number.
"The continuing volatility in the Middle East has had a significant impact on Irish farm input costs and put pressure on margins," Heydon said, adding that using data the department already holds removes any extra paperwork for farmers.
Photo: Andy Beecroft / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source: Agriland
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