Farmers applying for the Baling Assistance Payment (BAP) have been drawn to a line in the terms and conditions of the scheme which states: “Applicants will be subject to the individual state aid limit of €20,000 as set out in the Commission regulation.”

Farmers were querying whether this would affect their ability to claim all of the tillage support payment of €100/ha announced by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue in spring.

The first thing to note is there are no further details on that tillage support payment announced by Minister McConalogue on 13 April.

The payment is expected on all tillage crops, with the exception of protein crops.

The Irish Farmers Journal clarified with the Department of Agriculture if the BAP would affect state aid rules and it looks like the two payments should not cause issues for each other.

Maximum payment

The individual maximum payment in the BAP scheme is €7,000. This is the maximum area of 40ha of cereal crops multiplied by the payment of €175/ha under BAP.

The Department stated that the proposed tillage support payment will be paid under a different mechanism to the BAP, which would prevent a farmer from being in a situation where their state aid limit would be used up between the two payments.

The Department outlined: “State aid de minimis rules limit an individual to receiving €20,000 of de minimis state aid funding calculated in the year of payment and the preceding two years.

“Where an individual has reached the €20,000 upper payment limit in the year of payment and the preceding two years, then unfortunately the individual will not be eligible to receive any further de minimis state aid funding in the year in question.

"In the event that the payment for a new aid exceeds or breaches the €20,0000 limit, none of the new aid can be paid.

“There are a number of mechanisms to provide state aid clearance. De minimis is typically used for smaller amounts and for smaller populations.

"State aid clearance for the proposed €100/ha tillage support payment, which would be a sector-wide support, will be done under a different mechanism.”