Friday’s announcement that farmers will receive 75% of their own EU payments on 16 October, instead of 70%,will have little or no impact at farm level, IFA president Francie Gorman has said.

He said the announcement, instead, constituted "more back tracking than fast tracking".

“There is no new money here and these EU funds which are due to farmers will still not be paid out until 16 October, which is almost two months way,” Mr Gorman said.

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“The Minister's announcement will see the average farmer getting €7,500 on 16 October and €2,500 on 1 December. That means getting €500 of their own EU money six weeks earlier and not until two months’ time.

“If a farmer were to borrow €500 for the six weeks, the interest would be €5. That is the real value to the average farmer of this move by the Minister, and it won’t happen for almost two months,” he added.

Fertiliser strategy

Mr Gorman added that the Minister had made no mention of paying out EU funding allocated under the EU fertiliser strategy.

"Under this measure the EU Commission has allocated €15m to Ireland and has allowed Member States to match it up to 200% or €30m in Ireland’s case,” he said.

“This would leave a total fund of €45m to be allocated to farmers who have incurred exorbitant fertiliser prices in 2026. The Minister should pay this out immediately to help with cash flow."

Some of the other measures announced on Friday were among the more minor requests at the meeting last week but are at least an acknowledgment of the problem, Gorman said.

The IFA president called for the minister to introduce measures to encourage farmers to grow more fodder and to offset the cost of transporting fodder.

He also requested the immediate introduction of supports for farmers to purchase more concentrate feed to save silage for the winter.