Louth farmers to get €1.2 million funding

Just under €1,168,668 will be delivered to 597 County Louth farmers under the areas of natural constraints scheme, it has been announced today.

Welcoming the announcement today, Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd said, "local farmers have had to deal with serious challenges over the last 12 months including adverse weather episodes and the constant Brexit related pressure points.

"These payments will be well received at a critical time for our farmers.

"Increased  payments will be made this year following on from my colleague Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Michael Creed, securing an additional €25 million for the 2018 ANC Budget.

He continued, "the transfer to an online system for applications this year has seen an increase in the number of farmers receiving payments by 2,000 nationally from 75,000 in 2017 to almost 77,000 this year.

"This has also streamlined the process leading to a reduction in payment delays."

^{Fergus O'Dowd TD, with Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Michael Creed}

According to information shared by Deputy O'Dowd, not all applications are currently cleared for payment under the scheme. 

In particular, many farmers have yet to satisfy the annual average stocking density of 0.15 livestock units per forage hectare for the calendar year.

However, farmers have until 31 Dec 2018 to do so. Such cases can only be cleared for payment once this requirement has been confirmed.

Regular pay runs will continue in the coming weeks to ensure cleared cases are processed for payment as quickly as possible. 

Farmers should submit any outstanding stocking evidence in support of their application to the Department’s Portlaoise Office as soon as possible to facilitate the early release of payments.