An additional €158 million has been secured for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in the 2025 Budget. This includes a package of €85 million for new farm measures, and will provide significant support to the farming community and those employed in the sector in 2025.
Commenting on the budget, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, T.D. said:
“I wanted in particular to build on the significant sectoral supports I have put in place since my appointment as Minister. With that in mind, I am delivering substantially increased supports for the dairy beef, suckler, sheep and tillage sectors.”
The following is a breakdown of how Budget 2025 will impact payments in schemes and initiatives under CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027.
Dairy Beef
Following the publication of a 10-point plan earlier this year to develop and support the growing Dairy Beef sector, an extra €20/calf payment has been announced for the Dairy Beef Scheme. This is a doubling of the current payment per eligible calf from €20 to €40 and is intended as an encouragement of greater integration of the dairy and beef sector.
Beef
There have been increased targeted supports to the beef sector in recent years through the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme and the National Beef Welfare Programme. An increased payment per cow and calf from €200 in 2024 to €225 in 2025 will be made (this total payment includes an additional payment of €25/calf under the National Beef Welfare Scheme).
The National Genotyping Programme will also receive extra funding to make a significant contribution to the development of more sustainable beef and dairy sectors.
Sheep
The National Sheep Welfare Scheme will see an increase of €5 from the current rate of €8 per ewe to €13 per ewe. When combined with the €12 per ewe available under the Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS), sheep farmers will receive €25 per ewe in 2025. This is a 150% increase in funding from €10 to €25 and is by far the largest payment ever made to sheep farmers.
Tillage
A €100 per hectare payment has been committed to farmers that planted tillage and field grown food crops for harvest in 2024 as declared on their 2024 Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS). This is in addition to the €10 million set aside for the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) which will operate as normal in 2025.
Organics
An additional €10 million in funding has been promised to the Organic Sector. An increased budget of €67 million for the Organic Farming Scheme in 2025 will allow the scheme to reopen for new applicants.
Water Quality and the Environment
2025 will see a provision of €716 million for farmers participating in agri-environmental actions, including through the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES), Areas of Natural Constraint scheme (ANC), Forestry and Organic Farming Schemes.
An increased provision of €60 million has been made for ACRES, bringing funding for the scheme in 2025 to €260 million. This follows the decision made to accept all 55,000 applicants into the ACRES scheme
€40m in capital funding has also been committed for the development of a biomethane industry in Ireland. The commitment for early delivery in 2025 is €5m with the remainder to be paid in 2026.
Water quality measures.
Significant commitments have been made to secure the Nitrates Derogation under this budget. Farmers have also made significant commitments to improving water quality. At least €61 million will be provided for TAMs in 2025 to assist these commitments.
A dedicated 70% Nutrient Importation Storage Scheme (NISS), subject to European Commission approval, will open a 60% grant-aided Nutrient Storage Scheme, with a separate investment ceiling of €90,000. This will allow farmers to invest in nutrient storage, under a dedicated investment ceiling, while also allowing them to invest in other measures on their holdings, up to an additional €90,000 investment ceiling.
Other Sustainability measures
A significant investment has been made in the Soil Sampling and Analysis Programme over the last number of years, with €6 million available for a third phase of the programme to be launched later in 2024.
To encourage farmers to continue to improve the environmental sustainability of their holdings, a fourth programme of supports, of €1.5 million for Clover and €1.25 for Multi-Species measures were secured in Budget 2025.
Knowledge Transfer
The Knowledge Transfer Scheme programme which commenced this year will continue into 2025 and 2026 with the first rounds of payment issuing in March and May 2025 to farmer and advisor participants.
To read more about schemes in the CAP Strategic Plan 2023 – 2027, click here.
