The ongoing stalemate between public sector unions and Government over a new national pay agreement and the announcement of planned strike action next week is creating some renewed fears among farmers that more scheme payments could be delayed.
Farmer concerns are stemming from the fact that ongoing work-to-rule action resulted in a delay in payments under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and the Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS).
While payments subsequently took place within a week of the planned payment date and Eco-scheme payments were brought forward, farmers were frustrated that payments were caught up in the dispute.
There have since been calls for contingency plans to be put in place to ensure that payments under other schemes are not affected with the second half of November and early December a busy period for payments.
There is also an information void regarding what payments have taken place under the areas of natural constraint (ANC), BISS/CRISS and Ecoscheme since advance payments began.
The Department’s scheme payments online portal provides a weekly update on the sum of money and number of applicants paid over the course of the previous week.
This is a useful resource to monitor progress but has not been updated since ANC payments commenced.
It is worth pointing out that the performance of the Department of Agriculture in terms of getting payments rolled out to farmers is arguably the best across EU member states.
As such farmers and the wider industry has become accustomed to planning their business around certain payments – for example many farmers have payments earmarked for loan repayments, contractor bills etc and therefore there is time pressure on many of these, reinforcing the importance of contingency plans being put in place if required.
Payment dates
Payment dates under the main schemes, as agreed between farm organisations and the Department of Agriculture under the Charter of Farmers’ Rights and based on previous years’ experience, are outlined below.
Areas of Natural Constraint: payments commenced on 16 September and regular pay runs should continue until mid-November before balancing payments commence in early December. BISS and CRISS: payments commenced on 22 October and weekly pay runs should continue until mid-November before balancing payments commence in early December. Eco-scheme: payments commence to eligible applications on 16 October and regular pay runs should continue until mid-November before balancing payments begin in early December.Sheep Improvement Scheme: advance Payments to commence in November and balancing payments in May of following year. Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) Core payments: payments to commence by end-November to 100% of cleared cases. Balancing payments before end of May in the following year. Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Young Farmers (CIS-YF) and National reserve: 100% of cleared cases to be paid as a complete payment in early DecemberProtein Aid Scheme: Eligible applicants to be paid as a complete payment in mid-December.Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme: Payments to commence to eligible applicants in mid-December.National Beef Welfare Scheme: payments to commence in mid-DecemberNational Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme: payments to commence in early December National Sheep Welfare Scheme: payments to commence in mid-December to cleared applications. Later payment date of possibly early 2026 for farmers opting to delay completion of certain actions until 24 November 2026. Organic Farming Scheme: advance payments will commence to eligible applicants in early December. Balancing payments when all inspections are completed. Straw Incorporation Measure: payment to issue to cleared cases in mid-December.Forestry grant schemes: 100% payment to cleared cases within six weeks for non-inspection cases or 12 weeks where inspection is required in the case of valid/complete applications.Forestry Premium Scheme: annual bulk payment in January but payments continue throughout the yearBovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) National Eradication Programme Tissue Tag Subsidy: Animal Health Ireland reports that a payment of €3.50 per calf, up to 25 calves per herd will be paid automatically based on the number of birth registrations in a herd. This was paid in September 2025 but no date has been announced for 2026. CSP Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme: payments will be made in March 2027 for the 2026 scheme year.Deadline dates
24 November: final date to complete actions in National Sheep Welfare Scheme for farmers who opted for the extended deadline.30 November: final date for returning genotype samples in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme.1 December: ploughing or spraying off green cover can start for spring crops on cultivated stubbles. Catch crops grown for equivalence can be grazed, cultivated or sprayed off.1 December: a minimum of 31 days soiled water storage capacity must be in place on the holding for all milk producers.4 December: closing date for tranche 14 of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme.
