An additional €100m should be allocated to the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) scheme, according to the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA).

Its president Colm O’Donnell has called on Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to avail of all flexibilities afforded by EU Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski.

Find every euro

O’Donnell urged the minister to, “find every available euro in the whole of the RDP", including unspent allocations on existing schemes, together with amounts of money reserved for ongoing calls for applications not yet finalised by extending their scope and re-allocating funds between measures.

However, O'Donnell said that the INHFA's own analysis indicated that the best way to support farmers through the economic repercussions of the pandemic was to provide €100m additional funding through the ANC scheme.

Read more

Processing restrictions could cost NI farmers £105m

Rushes do not need to be sprayed to secure payments – Department