Farm organisations are calling for additional funding for the ANC scheme after its extension to additional land in last week’s review.

The most immediate need arises from the net addition of 1,751 eligible townlands and the inclusion of tillage farms for the first time. Of the €23m budget increase for 2019, the IFA estimates that €9m will be absorbed by new participants, while the ICSA puts this at €12m to €13m. This leaves up to €14m to increase in next year’s payment rates, with mountain and more severely handicapped land expected to receive the strongest boost.

IFA hill chair Flor McCarthy said his objective was to achieve a maximum payment of €6,000, but this could not be achieved within the current budget.

ICSA rural development chair Seamus Sherlock said the scheme “needs a significant injection of funding to cover the fact that so many farmers are eligible and that there has been no attempt to ensure funding keeps pace with inflation”.

INHFA president Colm O’Donnell said an independent body should target more funding towards the most disadvantaged farmers after 2020. “The current methodology in setting the level of compensation based on standard output per hectare doesn’t reflect fairly the severity of areas with multiple biophysical constraints,” he said.

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With more farmers included in Areas of Natural Constraints scheme, recent budget increases will have to be split between new participants and increased payment rates.