Farmers are being warned around the trading of entitlements this year, as the current payment system could face the chop post-2027.

Announcing the opening of the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) application window, the Department of Agriculture noted that the current CAP is due to cease at the end of 2027.

“The draft regulations from 2028 do not currently contain provision for the continuation of the system of payment entitlements,” it warned.

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It advised farmers who are considering the transfer of payment entitlements for 2026 and future years to note this significant change.

Ballinasloe-based auctioneer Joseph Naughton said that there is more interest from farmers to lease out entitlements rather than sell them at the moment: “People are preferring to lease them in for rented land because the advice they’ve got is that [the entitlements system] could possibly end sometime soon.”

Naughton added that entitlements are currently selling for 1.25 times their value. This is a 50% drop compared to 2025. Entitlements are being leased at between 40 and 55% of their value.

In 2025, over 26,000 lease applications and over 2,500 sale applications were made to the Department.

Meanwhile, in another notable change for BISS applications this year, the Department has made it mandatory for farmers to enter an expiry date on land rental agreements or land leases. This is to ensure that lands are not being fraudulently claimed upon.