Over 60 farmers in Tipperary to be paid under Protein Aid Scheme Payments
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine announces commencement of Protein Aid Scheme Payments
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, today announced that payments have begun issuing to farmers under the Protein Aid scheme.
The scheme was introduced to provide support to tillage farmers in establishing Nitrogen-fixing crops, which are of huge environmental benefit in addition to reducing the dependency on imported protein for use in animal feeds.
There are 66 farmers in Tipperary that will receive the payment, totalling to €345,405.44 paid by the state to Tipperary farmers.
Minister McConalogue stated: “We can confirm that payments totalling €9 million have commenced issuing under the 2024 Protein Aid Scheme and will be visible in farmers' bank accounts in the coming days.”
“The payment provided under this scheme is an important support for tillage farmers for the growing of protein crops, including beans, peas, lupins and the protein cereal mix crop. These protein crops deliver a range of environmental benefits in addition to reducing our reliance on imported sources of protein for animal feed,” the Minister continued.
“The Protein Aid Scheme has proven extremely popular with tillage farmers again in 2024, with the total area increasing to over 21,600 hectares,” Minister McConalogue concluded.
Payments will continue to issue to the tillage sector via the Straw Incorporation Measure which are due to commence issuing next week. This builds on payments already made under the Tillage Incentive Scheme which were paid in late November.