Beef and sheep farmers will be paid €100/ha for up to 10ha of hay and silage this year under a new €55m fodder scheme. Dairy farmers are excluded from applying, however.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue told the Irish Farmers Journal this week that the scheme is being finalised and that it will be the latter half of the year before payments are made to farmers.

The scheme will pay a maximum of €1,000 per farmer. If a farmer had 5ha of silage ground and had two cuts off it, they will qualify for the maximum payment, the minister confirmed.

Satellite inspections could be deployed to ensure farmer compliance with the scheme.