ANC payments to issue next week

Farmers located in areas of natural constraint (ANC) will be glad to hear that payments will be made to their account from 17 September.

This year, there will be additional funding of €25m in the scheme, bringing . The extra funding brings total ANC funding to €228m.

The 32,000 farmers benefiting from payments for mountain grazing will receive an extra €13m.

This means the first 10ha will receive €135/ha, while the next 24ha will receive €112/ha. The maximum payment will increase to €4,038.

Those receiving payments from more severely handicapped areas have an extra €9m of funding. Those farmers will receive €104/ha on the first 30ha.

This will affect 59,000 farmers and their maximum payment will also increase to €3,120.

Less severely handicapped payments for 23,500 farmers will also go up by an extra €3m.

This will increase the payment to €88.25/ha on the first 30ha, with a maximum payment of €2,647.50.

The retention period for the 2018 scheme is seven consecutive months within the calendar year, where the stocking density on the holding has to be equal to or greater than 0.15 livestock units per forage hectare.

In addition to meeting the retention period, applicants must also maintain an annual average of 0.15 livestock units calculated over the 12 months of the calendar year.