€1.6 million windfall finally paid Laois tillage farmers hit hard by bad weather

Laois tillage farmers hard hit by bad weather are to be paid the crisis support promised by the Government last spring for crops sown in 2023 and early last year.

The delay in paying the money agreed due to terrible weather was the subject of a Dáil question tabled by Laois TD Willie Aird earlier this year. He asked the Minister for Agriculture about the delay in payment of the €100 per ha tillage assistance payment to Irish tillage farmers and was told the payments would be made before the end of March.

Fine Gael Cllr Conor Bergin has confirmed that a total of €1,667,921 in payments under the Tillage and Horticulture Support scheme have commenced to 698 farmers in County Laois.

Cllr Bergin said the Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, Martin Heydon, has announced that payments totalling €32.4 million will be issued to farmers through the scheme.

“Last spring, Government recognised the difficult position tillage and horticultural farmers found themselves in due to exceptionally poor weather and continued high input costs.

As part of Budget 2025, funding was secured to deliver on the Government’s commitment for a €100 per hectare payment to support tillage and horticulture growers who planted crops for the 2024 harvest.  

The tillage and horticultural sectors are exceptionally important to the Irish agri-food sector and County Laois, and we wanted to ensure that supports were in place to assist farmers,” said Cllr Bergin.

Minister Heydon said: “Payment of €100 per hectare will be made on eligible tillage and horticulture crops that were declared on farmers’ 2024 BISS applications. These payments will be visible in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days.”

Farmers wishing to contact the department regarding their Tillage and Horticulture Support Scheme payments, can ring the Direct Payments Helpline at 057-8674422 or by email to tillage@agriculture.gov.ie