Irish fertiliser aid payments to farmers due to begin in December
Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has confirmed that payments under the Fertiliser Exceptional Aid Scheme will start in December 2026. The scheme offsets higher input costs caused by the crisis in the Middle East.
Farmers in Ireland will begin receiving payments under the Fertiliser Exceptional Aid Scheme (FEAS) in December 2026, according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). The scheme is intended to support farmers hit hardest by rising input costs linked to the crisis in the Middle East.
Funding
The scheme draws on €15.38 million allocated by the European Commission as part of the EU's fertiliser aid package. The Irish government increased this amount by 200%, bringing total funding for the scheme to €46.2 million.
How support will be calculated
Support is based on fertiliser purchase data recorded in the National Fertiliser Database (NFD), which the department maintains. Farmers were initially given until 23 October 2026 to check their fertiliser purchase records and correct any inaccuracies where necessary. The deadline was later extended to 30 October to give farmers more time to make sure their data was correct.
The department is now analysing information from the NFD and the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) system to determine eligibility and calculate payments. Until that analysis is finished, it cannot say how many farmers are eligible or what the average payment will be, a department spokesperson told Agriland.
The payment rate will be €40 per eligible tonne, with a maximum eligible tonnage of 100 tonnes. Payments are scheduled to begin in December 2026.
