A budget of €10 million has been allocated to the pilot Soil Sampling and Analysis Programme.
The Programme aims to cover the cost of approximately 80,000 to 100,000 soil samples at an average cost of €105 per sample. With a maximum of 16 samples per farm, it was anticipated that over 7,500 applicants would be accepted into the Programme.
The application period closed on 8th October 2021. Due to oversubscription, 7,879 successful applicants were selected from a total of 15,820 applicants. Table 1 below shows the number of total applicants and successful applicants by county.
Applicants were selected for the programme on a first come first serve basis with additional steps to ensure appropriate geographic and sectoral spread. Nationally, applicants were grouped according to their NUTS 3 region (7 regions) and their relevant self-selected farm enterprise type (5 types). CSO Farm Structure Survey data provided the relative spread of enterprise type per NUTS 3 region. This was scaled down from National figures allowing comparison with the Soil Sampling Programme figures to ensure representative approvals.
The pilot Soil Sampling and Analysis Programme is a substantial and ambitious programme. Soil sampling is ongoing and taking place across all counties. Farmers who were approved into the Programme were informed that their sampling contract runs to 31st December 2022. Approved participants who do not have their soil sampled this spring will have a further opportunity to have samples taken in the autumn if they wish.
Table 1. Number of total applicants and successful applicants by county
County
|
Total Applications
|
Total Successful
|
|
|
|
Carlow
|
267
|
189
|
Cavan
|
643
|
452
|
Clare
|
527
|
238
|
Cork
|
2313
|
869
|
Donegal
|
1197
|
547
|
Dublin
|
45
|
30
|
Galway
|
1658
|
766
|
Kerry
|
792
|
377
|
Kildare
|
225
|
141
|
Kilkenny
|
378
|
226
|
Laois
|
393
|
142
|
Leitrim
|
283
|
165
|
Limerick
|
566
|
212
|
Longford
|
366
|
152
|
Louth
|
138
|
93
|
Mayo
|
965
|
477
|
Meath
|
346
|
266
|
Monaghan
|
179
|
96
|
Offaly
|
391
|
146
|
Roscommon
|
742
|
497
|
Sligo
|
497
|
306
|
Tipperary
|
905
|
457
|
Waterford
|
311
|
192
|
Westmeath
|
730
|
282
|
Wexford
|
674
|
395
|
Wicklow
|
289
|
166
|
Total
|
15820
|
7879
|