Farmers have until this Friday 23 October to ensure that the sales data on the National Fertiliser Database in respect of their herd number is accurate and correct in receiving payment under the new fertiliser support scheme.
The Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon announced the EU Fertiliser Exceptional Aid Scheme on 13 October which will provide €46.2m of funding to farmers in respect of increased fertiliser prices arising from the Middle East crisis.
Under the terms of the Scheme, farmers must be registered on the National Fertiliser Database, have submitted a 2026 BISS application and eligible payment amounts will be based on purchasing data for the 2024/25 fertiliser year.
Payment rate
The minimum tonnage of chemical fertiliser eligible for payment under the scheme is 2.5 tonnes and the maximum tonnage for which support will be granted will be up to 100 tonnes. The rate per tonne will be €40/tonne and the minimum payment under the Scheme will be €100 while the maximum is €4,000.
Farmers can review their fertiliser purchase records on MyAgFood.ie.
The Department has advised that where a fertiliser purchase is missing, the farmer should contact the fertiliser merchant who supplied the fertiliser in the first instance, as the merchant is responsible for recording the sale on the database.
Those farmers that have yet to register on the National Fertiliser Database and who wish to be eligible to receive a payment under the scheme must also do so by the Friday 23 October.
