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The number of farmers declaring commonage land in their Basic Payment Scheme application amounts to 14,783 to date in 2020, according to the latest figures from the Department of Agriculture.
The information came to light in response to a parliamentary question asked by Sinn Féin's agriculture spokesperson Matt Carthy.
Most of the farmers came from the mountainous counties of Mayo (3,210), Donegal (2710), Galway (2,663), and Kerry (1,923).
This trend coincides with the top four counties for Sheep Welfare Scheme applications in 2019, with the counties of Donegal (3,637), Mayo (3,061), Galway (2,470), and Kerry (1,718) having a substantial number flocks on commonage land.
The number of farmers declaring commonage in their BPS is down 153 on 2019 levels.
Areas of Natural Constraint
The number of farmers with land eligible under the Areas of Natural Constraint scheme amounts to 103,555 to date in 2020, according to the Department of Agriculture.
The counties with the most farmers with land eligible under the ANC scheme were Galway (11,742), Mayo (11,166), Donegal (8,584), and Cork (7,617).
In 2019, Farmers in Donegal received the highest average payment from ANC. On average, they were paid €2,874.17, followed by Kerry farmers who received €2,378.49 and Wicklow farmers who got €2,801.44.
The number of farmers with land eligible under the ANC Scheme is down 1,082 on 2019 levels.
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