Loans for farmers as part of the Future Growth Loan Scheme will be available from March, according to Minister for Enterprise, Business and Innovation Heather Humphreys.

Speaking exclusively to the Irish Farmers Journal, Minister Humphreys said: “Mr Creed and myself will be launching the €300m Brexit long-term loan scheme and that will be available, we hope, in March.”

Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that he expects the loans to be available "during the first quarter of 2019".

Banks will have to submit a tender this month to participate in the scheme, Minister Humphreys said.

It was not indicated how long the tender process would take.

She reaffirmed that the scheme would be for long-term finance of eight to 10 years and advised both farmers and businesses to begin preparing their applications now ahead of the March start date.

Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed had previously said that the loan scheme would be available to farmers in “the second half of 2018”.