The 2023 Fodder Support Scheme (FSS) was launched on Wednesday by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue. The application process has also opened and will remain open for just shy of five weeks, closing at midnight on Monday 5 December 2022.

The automatic reaction from farmers interested in applying is that they are not in a position to submit an accurate figure on the area of ground on which they plan to cut silage or hay on in 2023.

This estimate is not required at the time of application, with the 2023 scheme based on the area submitted in 2022. Farmers cannot amend this area when applying now but they will have an opportunity in a period from May to July 2023 to amend the area they wish to submit for payment.

The reasoning for the application process opening at present is that the Department plans to pay 50% of the payment under the 2023 scheme before the end of December 2022 – essentially an advance payment will be made before the action is completed. The remainder of the payment under the scheme will be paid in quarter four of 2023.

This is separate to payments under the 2022 scheme, which will also be paid in November /December 2022.

Potential payment

The budget initially allocated to the 2023 scheme is €30m and Minister McConalogue has stated that the rate of payment will be up to €100/ha, with a potential maximum payment of €1,000 per applicant.

However, going on the 2022 participation figure of 71,000 applicants, this figure will only be achieved if there is additional funding allocated to the scheme, a significant reduction in the area submitted for support or a significant reduction in the number of applicants.

The 2022 FSS was popular among farmers, with the Department reporting it received over 71,000 applications and that each of these are due to receive an average payment of €735 shortly. This means there will be at least a payout of over €52m, which is covered in a budget allocation of €56m.

Reduced payment

The Department of Agriculture has outlined that where the scheme is oversubscribed, the payment rate will be less than €100/ha. This will be achieved by a linear cut over all the area submitted or through a process of maintaining a payment of €100/ha on a given number of the “first few hectares” and a reduction on the remaining hectares up to the maximum of 10ha.

If we assume that each of these 71,000 applicants submits an application to the 2023 scheme on a similar area then the average payment, based on a budget of €30m, could reduce to in the region of €422 per applicant. The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the preferred option is to seek additional funding under Budget 2024 to cover balancing payments.

Minister McConalogue has opened up this possibility, saying it will be dependent on input costs remaining at current high levels, which at this stage looks likely. “The initial budget for the Fodder Support Scheme is €30m, with a payment rate of up to €100/ha. I will continue to monitor the situation around the price of agricultural inputs in to 2023 and, in the event that they remain high, I will be seeking additional funding for this scheme.”

In the event that additional funding is not available, balancing payments will take this into account while the terms and conditions provide for the recoupment of monies paid where a participant reduces the area declared under the 2023 FSS when it reopens in May-June 2023.

Historic input costs

Minister McConalogue said supporting family farms through a continued period of uncertainty remains a priority for him and the Government. “There continues to be price pressure for agricultural input costs, in particular for chemical fertiliser and the impact that will have on the quantity of fodder produced and conserved next year. I am delighted to launch the 2023 Fodder Support Scheme.”

Eligibility criteria and application process

Only successful applicants for the 2022 FSS are eligible to apply for the 2023 scheme. Applicants must apply before the deadline of 5 December 2022 and must also submit an application under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) which replaces the current Basic Payment Scheme in 2023.

The application process is only available online through the Department’s agfood.ie facility. Applicants can submit an application themselves or via an agent authorised to act on their behalf.

The application process only takes a few minutes and is summarised below.

  • Log in to your agfood.ie account.
  • Scroll down the menu and select “Exceptional Aid Measures”.
  • Select “schemes to enter” at the top left of the screen and then click on “new application”.
  • Click on “2023 Fodder Support Scheme”.
  • If you were a successful applicant to the 2022 FSS, this will bring up the area which you submitted in 2022. You will not be able to amend these now. If not then a message will appear “As you did not have a valid 2022 Fodder Support Scheme application you are not eligible to apply for the 2023 Fodder Support Scheme”.
  • Agree to the terms and conditions by ticking the five declarations and click submit.
  • A successful application will be confirmed and it will read “online application submitted” in the application summary box.