The closing date for the National Tillage Sustainability Support Scheme (NTSSS) closes at midnight on Monday 9 March 2026.

It is important to note that there is no late application facility, meaning that any farmer who fails to apply by the deadline will miss out on the support funding available.

The scheme is worth €30m and is funded by the national exchequer.

It will provide a support payment to farmers who declared at least 1ha of certain cereals or oilseed rape crops on their 2025 Basic Income Support for Sustainability application. Eligible crops under the scheme are barley, wheat, oats, rye, triticale and oilseed rape.

The rate of payment is degressive, with a payment of €110 per eligible hectare (ha) up to a maximum of 100ha. The payment reduces to €90/ha for each hectare greater than 100ha and less than or equal to 125ha. The next 25ha up to or equal to 150ha will be paid at €70/ha, with a payment of €50/ha thereafter.

Irish Farmers Association (IFA) grain committee chair John Murphy urged farmers to avail of funding in the scheme.

"The Department [has] made the application process very straightforward," he said. "Farmers only have to accept the scheme conditions and then press a second button to complete their application. It's very important all eligible farmers access this much-needed support."

Application process

Applications must be submitted online via the Department’s MyAgfood.ie or agfood.ie portals.

The Department is advancing with its transition from agfood.ie to MyAgfood.ie and, as such, those logging into their account will now be directed to the MyAgfood.ie login page.

There is still an option to default to the old agfood.ie login, but, at this stage, it is worth exploring the new features that the MyAgfood.ie system has to offer.

Where it is your first time to login to the system, there may be a couple of steps to get to the application page. There are two options to get to the NTSSS application window – via the ‘My Schemes and Services’ tab or by typing tillage into the search bar, which reads ‘find a scheme or service’.

If you select the first option, it may or may not have a prepopulated listing of schemes previously applied for. Under the ‘My Schemes’ section, there is a link highlighted as ‘to find a scheme you can search our list of schemes and services’.

  • When you click on this, it will present another option to search for the scheme or a tab at the bottom to view the next 10 schemes. The portal for the tillage sustainability support payment is found on the last scheme page. When you click on this, it brings you to the login page. There are five tabs at the top to denote the stage at which the application is at.
  • It starts at ‘No application’ and under this is the business ID or herd number and the name of the herd owner. To the right under the heading ‘actions’ is a plus symbol.
  • Clicking on this symbol creates the application form. There are five key terms and conditions that applicants should read. Once they are happy to progress, the next step is to tick the box ‘I/we commit to apply for aid under the Tillage Sustainability Support Scheme’.
  • Clicking next will bring you to the next interface, where you can click to submit the application, return to the previous page or cancel your application. If you click submit, it will confirm that the application has been submitted. When you click close, it will bring you back to a page that details the date of application.

    • Farmers having any difficulty applying can ring the help desk at 057-867 4422 with any queries they may have or they can email tillage@agriculture.gov.ie.