Farmers growing tillage crops are set to receive a number of payments from the Department of Agriculture in the coming days.

The first instalment of the Protein Aid Scheme was issued at the beginning of this week. Some €270/ha is EU-funded and the top-up of €30/ha to guarantee a payment of €300/ha is coming from the national Exchequer, so the payment will arrive in two instalments a few days apart.

A price of €300/ha for protein crops was guaranteed by the Department of Agriculture in the spring time in order to encourage farmers to grow these crops and supply protein for animal feed.

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Straw Incorporation Measure payments at rates of €250/ha for cereal straw and €150/ha for oilseed rape are also expected. Some 52,715ha of straw are estimated to have been chopped.

The Tillage Incentive Scheme (TIS), another measure taken by the Department of Agriculture in spring to secure Irish grain, will also see payments of €400/ha issue shortly.

The scheme drove a 6.1% increase in tillage area.

Tillage farmers will be glad to see these payments coming as, this week, Teagasc predicted a 48% drop in tillage family farm incomes for 2023, due to rising costs and a 21% drop in grain price.