Tillage Incentive Scheme 2023 open for applications
The opening of the 2023 Tillage Incentive Scheme (TIS) was today announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, T.D.
The Tillage Incentive Scheme aims to provide support to tillage farmers who continue to maintain the current tillage area converted under TIS 2022 and allow for additional conversion to tillage crops in 2023.
The overall budget for the Tillage Incentive Scheme is €10 million, and provides for two rates of payment:
- A payment of €400 per hectare for area newly converted to tillage in 2023;
- A maintenance payment of €200 per hectare for area converted in 2022 and a farmer maintaining their tillage area in 2023.
Both rates are subject to compliance with the Terms and Conditions of the Scheme, which can be found on the department’s website. Farmers wishing to apply for the 2023 Tillage Incentive Scheme should do so through www.agfood.ie before the closing date of July 7th 2023. A valid 2023 BISS application must have been submitted, declaring the eligible crops for the scheme.
Commenting on the opening of the scheme, Minister McConalogue said: “I am delighted to launch the 2023 Tillage Incentive Scheme with funding of €10 million. The Tillage Incentive Scheme was first introduced in 2022, as a direct result of the impact on Irish agriculture and supply chains arising from the situation in Ukraine and the availability and price of animal feed and fertilisers in Ireland. As the aggression in the Ukraine has continued so too has the impact on Irish farmers and therefore I am extending the scheme into 2023.”
The Minister added: “The Tillage Incentive Scheme in 2022 was a success with a 6% (over 20,000 hectares) increase in tillage area over 2021. There is an ambition for continued growth of the tillage sector as highlighted in the Food Vision 2030 Strategy and more recently in the Climate Action Plan, where a target has been set to increase the area under tillage crops to 400,000ha by 2030.”