The farm sector is set to receive up to €46.2m under the Fertiliser Exceptional Aid Scheme, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has announced.

The funding is aimed at supporting farmers dealing with input cost spikes caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The funding combines Ireland’s €15.38m allocation from the EU Fertiliser Exceptional Aid package, which was announced this summer, with the maximum allowable national top-up of 200% or €30.8m.

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The scheme will use existing data on purchases of fertiliser held on the national fertiliser database for the 2025 fertiliser year (15 September 2024 to 14 September 2025) to identify farmers most affected by higher input costs to define eligibility for payment and to calculate payments.

The minimum tonnage of chemical fertiliser eligible for payment under the scheme is 2.5 tonnes (t) and the maximum tonnage for which support will be granted will be up to 100t.

While the payment rate per tonne will be calculated when the total eligible amount is finalised, it is envisaged that the minimum payment under the scheme will be €100.

At the 2.5t minimum amount and a minimum payment of €100 per farmer, this would equate to a per-tonne payment of €40/t.

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While the full details of the scheme are yet to be finalised, a payment rate of €40/t could deliver farmers up to €4,000 in support on the maximum 100 tonnes of fertiliser.

"The continuing volatility in the Middle East has had a significant impact on Irish farm input costs and put pressure on margins,” Minister Heydon said.

“I can confirm in response to these pressures that Government has committed the maximum level of national funding, of 200% of EU allocation or €30.8m, allowed under the EU exceptional aid package, which, when coupled with Ireland’s EU funding allocation of €15.4m, provides for total funding of €46.2m for the Fertiliser Exceptional Aid Scheme, which will paid to farmers before the end of the year.”

Minister Heydon said the scheme will minimise the administrative burden on farmers and ensure payments are made to farmers before the end of 2026.

Scheme eligibility and payment rates will be based on the following criteria:

  • BISS active status: farmers must have submitted valid applications for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) scheme in 2026.
  • National fertiliser database registration: farmers must be registered on the national fertiliser database as a fertiliser end user.
  • Fertiliser purchase data: payments will be calculated directly from purchasing data recorded on the database for the 2025 fertiliser year (15 September 2024 to 14 September 2025).

    • For 2026 new entrant and young farmers who do not have a record of fertiliser purchases in the 2025 fertiliser year as they may only have commenced farming in 2026, the Minister has proposed that that for those who have submitted a BISS application in 2026, their fertiliser purchase records for the 2026 fertiliser year will be used to calculate payment.

    Minister Heydon said he was also aware that some horticultural producers who use significant amounts of fertiliser in their business may not submit applications for BISS.

    Therefore, the eligibility requirement for them to receive payment under the scheme is to have, for 2026, a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine plant health registration number or horticulture food registration number.

    The Department will take an extract of data from the database on 23 October 2026 and the amount of fertiliser per farmer recorded on the database at this time will determine eligibility for the scheme and be used as the basis for calculating payments.

    Farmers and the merchants they sourced their fertiliser from must ensure all purchasing record data for 2025 fertiliser year on the datasbe is fully accurate and up to date ahead of the deadline.

    Further details regarding the exact payment rates per tonne of fertiliser to be paid under the scheme will be published by the Department in the coming weeks.