Further 2021 advance payments under the Green Low-carbon Agri-environment Scheme (GLAS) will commence this week, according to Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.

The GLAS-Plus payments issued over the coming days to farmers will amount to €3.5m.

With the latest payment included, over €143m has been issued in respect of 2021 advance payments to date.

Some €1.3bn has now been issued to farmers through GLAS payments since the beginning of the scheme.

GLAS-Plus

Traditional GLAS participants who undertake “particularly challenging actions” may qualify for a GLAS-Plus annual top-up payment of up to €2,000.

This applies where a participant farmer has delivered a particularly high level of environmental commitment concerning on-farm “priority environmental assets”.

Minister McConalogue said: “The issuing of further payments and the rate of issue of these payments will be welcomed by farmers in every county in Ireland.”

“I have previously stated that a key issue for my Department is to ensure that scheme payments issue to farmers as early as possible.”

Next year

The Minister noted that GLAS farmers now have the certainty of participating in the scheme again next year if they wish to do so.

GLAS is a really important scheme as it supports farm family incomes

“This comes on the back of funding I secured as part of Budget 2022. GLAS is a really important scheme as it supports farm family incomes while also making a positive environmental benefit.”

GLAS participants who wish to extend their GLAS contract to end December 2022 may apply to do so before 10 December 2021 via the Agfood.ie portal.

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