Farmers have drawn down €144.9m of the Agriculture Cash flow Support Loan Scheme worth €150m to date.

Figures from the Department of Agriculture obtained by the Irish Farmers Journal show there have been 4,246 applications approved to date.

The average loan size for the amount drawn down is €34,127, with an average period of loan facility of 41 months.

The latest sectoral breakdown, from September 2017, shows dairy and beef farmers drew down more than 84% of the money, or just over €112m.

The scheme

The low-cost loan scheme, which was developed in co-operation with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), made €150m available to farmers at interest rates of 2.95%.

When it closed to applications in September 2017, the scheme was oversubscribed.

Read more

Irish farm debt rising but overall remains very low

Irish farmers pay double the interest rate of European counterparts