The Department of Agriculture this week announced the launch of the scheme to Support Long Established Young Farmers. The scheme, with a budget of €5m, is aimed at supporting a group of farmers referred to as ‘forgotten farmers’.

The Department defines such farmers as “young farmers who were under the age of 40 in 2015, had commenced in agriculture prior to 2008, did not receive young farmer Installation Aid and were not eligible for young farmer supports under the CAP from 2015 due to the date they had first set up in agriculture”.

The terms and conditions of the scheme state that the amount paid to successful applicants is dependent on the number of successful applications received, with an upper payment ceiling of €5,000 to any one successful applicant.

As such, the budget of €5m is sufficient to cover a maximum payment of €5,000 to approximately 1,000 participants.

The Forgotten Farmer group estimates that there could be upwards of 3,000 farmers who slipped through the support net during the period described above.

Any such farmers are being encouraged to apply to the scheme before the deadline of 5.30pm on 13 August 2025.

All applications must be submitted online by an applicant or approved agent acting on their behalf.

Eligibility to receive funding under the scheme is also subject to EU rules on de minimis aid, which requires an applicant to remain within the €50,000 aid limit during a three-year period.

Other schemes falling under the banner of de minimis aid are outlined at the end of this article.

Eligibility criteria

The terms and conditions outline that to be considered eligible under the scheme to support Long Established Young Farmers, an applicant must satisfy all of the following conditions:

Educational Qualification requirements

In terms of educational requirements, to be considered eligible under the scheme to support Long Established Young Farmers, an applicant must have successfully completed an agricultural qualification at Level 6 or its equivalent on the National Framework of Qualifications by 29 May 2015 and must upload a copy of such qualification in support of their application.

Other schemes under de minimis