As Minister for Finance Jack Chambers delivers his first budget to Dáil Éireann on Tuesday, we take a look at some of the key areas where funding or tax changes are expected.

Keep an eye on farmersjournal.ie live blog to get the latest Budget 2025 updates from the Irish Farmers Journal.

Sucklers and IBR

It is expected that an infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) testing programme is expected, as Dutch authorities could halt live exports to the Netherlands from spring if an IBR programme is not in place by then.

IBR testing was introduced as an action in Budget 2023’s one-year suckler scheme, but the payment rate of €15/head for the action was criticised by farmers who were faced with vet testing bills.

The action did not feature in the Beef Welfare Scheme 2024, which instead just included a mandatory action of €35/head for meal feeding around weaning time and a voluntary measure of €15/head for vaccinating against clostridial diseases or pneumonia in suckler calves.

There has been little commentary from ministers in the Department of Agriculture on what funding, payment rate or actions could be in any suckler scheme for 2025 announced.

Tillage clarity

Tillage farmers will be expecting to hear clarity on when the €100/ha pledged earlier this year will land.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue made a commitment this April to pay €100 for every hectare of tillage hectare planted in autumn or winter 2023 and spring 2024, but no payment dates have been set by the Department.

Inheritance change

It is anticipated that the tax-free threshold which applies to family inheritance will be raised to €400,000 when the budget is announced.

When taken with agri relief, which reduce the taxable value of certain agricultural assets by 90% of their face value, this would allow for a farm worth €4m to be inherited without paying capital acquisitions tax.

Forgotten farmers

While there has been little discussion around the issue of the ‘forgotten farmers’ in the run-up to Budget 2025 with inheritance in the spotlight, Minister McConalogue pledged in June to unveil a scheme in the upcoming budget.

There are approximately 3,500 thought to be eligible for whatever scheme is in the works, but it remains unclear what measures will be brought forward to this cohort of farmers left behind from supports when budgets were cut back after the crash.

RZLT

Government has flagged genuine farmers being hit with the residential zoned land tax from their local authorities as an issue to which a solution will be found before the first bills land.

Farmers affected by the proposed tax will be keen to see a permanent solution put forward in Budget 2025, as last year’s budget only postponed the tax and no long-term solution has yet been unveiled by Government.

Further details

A €14bn infrastructure, climate and nature fund was committed to by Government in Budget 2024, which comprises tax revenues collected over the coming years, but spent on capital investments between 2026 and 2030.

Little concrete detail has been furnished on what areas of the economy will benefit from the fund, how much it could allocate to each sector and what investments would be considered eligible for a slice of the support.

Ministers in the Department of Agriculture have previously signalled that farming should take a portion of this fund to meet climate and nature goals.

With the EU Nature Restoration Law now passed and a commitment from Government that any actions taken to meet the State’s now legally binding nature targets will be funded, farmers will be keen to hear how the actions they may take over the coming years will pay.