Announcing the decision, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, said that high levels of rainfall have created challenging conditions for farmers: “I recognise the challenges farmers have faced trying to spread lime due to the high levels of rainfall recorded since last July. This has significantly impacted soil trafficability and therefore farmers ability to spread lime. The flexibility being announced today will give farmers an opportunity to apply lime when ground conditions are more favourable. The final date for spreading of lime purchased under the scheme will be 28th June.”
The liming programme was introduced in spring 2023 to incentivise the use of lime as a natural soil conditioner which corrects soil acidity, make nutrients more available for plant uptake, and improves overall soil health. Over 14,500 claims were submitted under the National Liming Programme with advance payments issued to farmers in the final months of 2023. Payments were conditional on the purchase of lime no later than the November 7, 2023 and subsequent spreading before March 31 – now extended to June 28. Farmers are reminded that failure to adhere to the conditions of the scheme regarding spreading will result in recoupment of aid already paid.