A total of 119,375 applications were submitted under the 2019 Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme, of which a total of 103,904 currently hold eligible land. Not all applicants who have eligible land will necessarily satisfy all the scheme requirements in order to qualify for a payment. For example, many will make on-farm decisions in relation to their stocking rates over the course of the year which will impact on their eligibility for payment. Some will only become eligible for payment later in the year.
Payments under the 2019 ANC scheme commenced on schedule during the week commencing 16th September 2019 with 79,000 farmers being paid €168.5 million. This was an increase of 2,000 farmers compared to the opening of ANC payments in September 2018. Regular payment runs continue to take place and to date, a total of 86,508 applications have received their 85% advance payment, totalling €185.2m.
Twice weekly payment runs will continue to take place to ensure that, as additional cases become clear, payment will issue as soon as possible.
The table at the link shows the total number of applications under the scheme for 2019, the number of applications with eligible land, the breakdown of applicants by each area designation and the number who have received their advance payment per county.
Please note that the table displays a count of all applicants to have declared land in each area category. An applicant may have declared land in more than 1 category and will be included in the total number of applicants under each category of land for which they have declared.
ANC Scheme