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The coronavirus support package for NI agriculture will be topped up with an additional £3.6m.
The initial £25m budget came from the Department of Finance. Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots then asked officials to review budgets within his department to see if additional funds could be available.
A document sent to Stormont’s agriculture committee last week confirms that an additional £3.6m has been identified.
Payments of up to €7,000 can be made to individual farms
Meanwhile, the European Commission confirmed on Wednesday that unspent Rural Development Programme money can be used for coronavirus support to farmers.
Up to 2% of EU funds can be used, which equates to a budget of €4.6m in NI.
Payments of up to €7,000 can be made to individual farms.
Details of how the initial £25m support package will be allocated are expected to be announced soon.
“The Minister has consulted with industry stakeholders and will make decisions on the allocation of COVID-19 funding and eligibility criteria in coming days,” a DAERA spokesperson confirmed.
The spokesperson referred only to the “£25m COVID support package” which indicates that the additional funding from DAERA might not be spent at this stage.
Instead, it could be held back to support farmers that take a financial hit later in the year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sources suggest that around half of £25m fund will go to dairy farmers, to compensate them for losses this spring.
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