Over 100,000 less-well-off farmers are set to receive an 8 per cent increase in the rate of financial support available to them following an announcement by Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan yesterday.
Those farmers who use their lands for the production of energy crops, including miscanthus and willow, will also be allowed to avail of disadvantaged funding under an adjusted rate of payment.
The Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (DAS) benefits more than 100,000 farmers in areas categorised as "less favoured" and is one of the measures which form part of Ireland's rural development programme.
This programme was approved by the EU's rural development committee last month.
"I am particularly pleased to announce that financing of the scheme in the period 2007-2013 will amount to €1.8 billion approximately, which will allow me to provide an 8 per cent across-the-board increase in grant rates up to the overall payment ceiling of 45 forage hectares," Ms Coughlan said.
"In addition to the incentives I announced earlier this year under the bio-energy scheme, farmers who participate in this scheme can also benefit from the DAS payment by way of an adjusted rate of grant consisting of the appropriate DAS amount less the €45 EU energy premium."
The revised rates of payment under the scheme are:
More severely handicapped lowland: €95.99 per forage hectare;
Mountain-type grazing: €109.71 per hectare on the first 10 forage hectares or part thereof; €95.99 per hectare on the remaining forage hectares;
Less severely handicapped lowland: €82.27 per forage hectare.
DAS applicants will continue to be required to meet the minimum forage area requirement of three hectares as well as certain other requirements.
But Ms Coughlan yesterday also announced several changes to the scheme, including the expansion of the definition of forage area to include crops of forage maize.