Remote farming in South Kerry. Photo by Don MacMonagle
Kerry farmers have received the highest payment per farmer from a government subsidy, totalling more than €14m.
The Areas of National Constraints (ANC) fund is given out every year to farmers who farm land in designated areas that are deemed to face significant hardships.
Factors such as remoteness, difficult topography, climatic difficulties and poor soil conditions are considered, with many parts of Kerry possessing these features.
Farmers in Kerry received nearly €2,500 this year, almost €1,000 more than farmers in County Louth and Kildare.
John Joe MacGearailt, vice-chair of the Irish Natura & Hill Farmers Association, said: “Farmers are delighted to see it come because it happens during the ploughing championship and it gives the farmers a boost…it’s a great support every year”.
Farmers also receive the Basic Income Support for Sustainability Scheme (BISS) which is the main EU support for farmers. The scheme entitles farmers to subsidies based on the amount of land that they farm.
Mr MacGearailt said the scheme was unfair in the past, but since its update in 2023, BISS is heading in the right direction.
A major change was the lowering of the cap on the payment amount to €66,000, which meant larger land owners were limited in the what they could receive.
“In years gone by all the big payments were going to the east of country to the fellas with the better land and we were left with nothing except peanuts. This time around, in this cap, there’s a levelling out of payments,” he said.
“Hopefully by the next cap we should see a complete flattening of payments so we won’t be infighting with each other.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting scheme