Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) paid out more than €182 million to farmers this week across its various schemes, the bulk of it under the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme, which began issuing this week.

The ANC advances total €179 million and have gone to more than 85,000 farmers. They represent 85% of the full entitlement, with the remaining 15% balance due to start issuing in early December. The scheme supports farmers working land in designated areas that face significant hardship from remoteness, difficult terrain, climate or poor soils.

A further €1.9 million went out under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS 3), which has 11 sub-schemes offering grants for building or improving a defined range of farm buildings and equipment. To date, 54,432 approvals have been issued under TAMS 3, 24,338 payment applications have been submitted, and just over 21,100 payments worth more than €190 million have been made.

The Fuel Income Support Scheme paid out more than €265,500 this week, bringing its total to €26.1 million across 30,890 farmers. The 2025 Eco Scheme paid more than €129,000, the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) €50,000 and the Organic Farming Scheme €6,260.

For farmers on marginal land the ANC advance is the largest single cash injection of the autumn, arriving as grazing tightens and winter feed bills loom. The weekly payments data was reported by Kathleen O'Sullivan for Agriland.

Source: Agriland