Farmers receive £258.4million in Direct Payments
Date published:
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Minister Andrew Muir MLA has announced Direct Payments to Northern Ireland farmers have commenced from 2 September, with almost £260million being issued on the first day.
Minister Muir said: "I am delighted to announce £258.4million of Direct Payments have issued to 23,254 farmers, representing 98% of eligible applicants, on the first day of 2024 payments.
“I am committed to ensuring both the environmental and economic sustainability of Northern Ireland’s significant agriculture sector, and my department continues to deliver for hard working farming families. These payments represent a significant boost to those families and to rural communities."
Payments will continue to be released following successful validation checks for the small number of remaining applications. Farm Businesses are reminded that, to ensure prompt payment they should check that both their contact, and bank details are up to date.
Notification of payment details will be made through the DAERA Messaging Service. This service is a secure, fast and convenient way to view and respond to scheme correspondence. DAERA will prompt farm businesses, by issuing an email to the scheme applicant, when a new message is available to view. Paper letters will issue to farm businesses where an agent submitted the application.
To access DAERA messaging for current and future communications, all farm business members must register for a DAERA Online Account by registering first for NI Direct. This can be completed via the DAERA website. This is an easy process that can be done conveniently at home. Assistance with registration is available from DAERA by calling 0300 200 7840.
Notes to editors:
- The 2024 total ceiling for direct payments has been confirmed as £293,527,012 (prior to deductions for capping being applied) and is equivalent to the ceiling for 2023. This is used to calculate BPS entitlement values, the Young Farmer Payment, the Protein Crop Scheme and the Beef Carbon Reduction Scheme for the 2024 scheme year.
- On 2 September payments to applicants of the Protein Crops Scheme will also issue, totaling £0.26M.
- Beef Carbon Reduction payments for the 2024 scheme year will issue separately, in March 2025.
- All media queries should be directed to the DAERA Press Office: pressoffice.group@daera-ni.gov.uk or telephone: 028 9016 3460.
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- The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.