Some 25,169 farmers will receive a boost in their 2019 BPS payment as a result of the ongoing flattening of payments.

Farmers west of the Shannon are set to benefit most.

By the end of this year, all farmers must receive at least 60% of the national average entitlement value, which is €266/ha including greening.

Over the past five years, convergence or flattening of payments has seen all entitlements move closer to €160/ha.

Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed detailed how many farmers in each county would receive a boost in response to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil’s Charlie McConalogue.

In 2018, 44% of farmers in Donegal had entitlement values less than €160/ha.

This year, 3,634 farmers in the county will receive extra money to bring them up to €160/ha.

Almost a third of farmers in counties Leitrim (1,101), Mayo (3,401) and Kerry (2,286) will see an increase when BPS payments are issued in the autumn.

Farmers in the east of the country will see the least benefit to their entitlements.

In counties Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford, less than 10% of farmers hold entitlements lower than €160/ha.

Increases

How much each farmer’s payment increases this year will depend on the value of their existing entitlements.

Much of the money that will be used to top up entitlements to €160/ha will come from a €1.841m cut to entitlements over €700/ha. There are 721 farmers who will lose money from these cuts in 2019.

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