The Minister for Agriculture must follow through on his commitment to ensure farmers receive payments falling due over the coming weeks without delay, the IFA's rural development chair John Curran has said.

ACRES, Basic Income Support for Sustainability, eco scheme and Fodder Transport Support Scheme payments are all due to land with farmers over the coming weeks.

The fodder scheme opened earlier this year saw only around 700 farmers apply, but no payments have yet been issued.

The rural development chair stated that the Department of Agriculture keeps pushing back its start date for payments under this scheme and “now we are hearing it could be mid-October before payments commence”.

“It’s just not good enough. Farmers in limbo can’t budget and schedule repayments,” Curran commented.

“Many are waiting on these payments to make arrangements for the coming winter too. The Department needs to sort this out and get money into farmers’ accounts as soon as possible.”

Cash flow pressure

Curran warned that cash flow issues are growing on many farms, with no sectors immune and with these challenges having been compounded by Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) delays and the recoupment of excess interim payments on some farms.

“The Department needs to deliver on their commitments that maximum flexibility will apply to farmers needing to recoup some/all of interim payments received, and that at least 95% of outstanding balancing ACRES payments will be paid out by end-September,” he commented.

“There is a particular cohort of ACRES applicants too, fewer than 300 in total, that have received no payment at all. Some arrangement needs to be made for these farmers.

“They cannot always be at the end of the queue to be sorted out and paid, not knowing where they stand. They entered the scheme in good faith, so they need to be paid in good time also.

“In Tuesday’s budget, he needs to land a series of targeted measures to support the most vulnerable farm sectors,” he added.