There were 8,691 claims submitted in 2026 Basic Income Support for Sustainability Scheme (BISS) applications for meeting the active farmer check by a means other than using 2025’s stocking rate.
BISS requires applicants to prove that they are an active farmer and most participants meet the conditions of the active farmer check by using their previous year’s stocking rate, which must have reached a minimum of 0.1LU/ha.
This is the equivalent of one ewe per hectare.
However, farmers can also prove they meet the check by proving that they are involved in other agricultural activity, such as growing crops, saving fodder or maintaining grassland, for example by topping.
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said that 3,940 of this year’s BISS applicants opted to satisfy the check by stating that they keep sheep, cattle or goats, while another 1,847 selected the option of growing an eligible crop.
Forestry
A further 327 were eligible for BISS through forestry on their lands, while 296 said that they maintain landscape features, such as by cutting hedges or cleaning ditches.
Some 1,539 chose the option of making hay or silage, another 278 said that they will prove they are active farmers by topping grassland and 457 stated that they keep horses, donkeys or deer.
“The active farmer check implemented by my Department in the current CAP programme verifies that an agricultural activity is being carried out by an applicant, with minimum levels of activity specified and required,” Minister Heydon responded to a question put by Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny.
“Applicants can also, where appropriate, use prior year stocking as their active farmer claim or claim multiple activities.”
Active farmer debate
The long-running debate around what level of agricultural activity must be met to determine who can access CAP payments has been reignited with the opening of 2028-2034 CAP reform talks.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association has sought a tenfold increase to the current minimum stocking rate limit that can be used to meet the active farmer check by seeking a 1LU/ha threshold - the equivalent to four ewes per acre.
However, both the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association and the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association have been critical of this 1LU/ha proposal, stating that it puts at risk thousands of drystock farmers’ access to CAP payments, particularly for those farming marginal lands.
SHARING OPTIONS