Delays to key farm payments are putting massive strain on cashflow on farms, farmers have told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Thousands of farmers are awaiting BISS, ANC and ACRES payments, as well as approvals under TAMS.

The delay is having a knock-on effect to farmer creditors, with contractors left waiting for payments from farmers.

Adam Smyth from Donegal said he entered into a joint herd number last May.

Begging match

“Since then, everything has been a begging match with the Department of Agriculture. Constantly calling them to see what the issue was on why payments were delayed.”

The Donegal farmer highlighted that the “bills keep on coming,” however, “ACRES and the rest of the BISS still haven’t come.”

“It has put a massive strain on our cashflow and being able to pay creditors,” Smyth said.

June Danaher, a farmer in Co Limerick, said: “Why the delay when you do everything by the book? [They] have no problem taking money back.”

Bríd Butler from Co Carlow said that “delayed income payments would not happen in any other sector in Ireland. Try telling public sector workers, for example, that your income is coming but we are not really sure when, but not to worry as I am sure you will manage in the meantime”.

“Farmers don’t matter,” Butler concluded.

Check again next week

“All of my payments ANC, BISS, eco and young farmers, were held up because of a number of issues on the new Department system,” Cork farmer Patrick Creedon told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“There was very poor communication [from the Department of Agriculture], telling me to ring back and check again next week.” Creedon added that he was “promised many call backs” which he never received.

“Nobody made it clear at any point with timelines when issues would be resolved – it took until January.”

Creedon said that his account has now been cleared. However, he is still not fully paid.

“I am so lucky to have an off-farm income that I was able to subsidise the day-to-day running [of the farm] but this ties up money that can’t be accessed for my family,” the Cork farmer concluded.

Padraig Connery, a Waterford farmer, told the Irish Farmers Journal that he “bought a mounted sprayer in October 2023, applied for the [TAMS] grant in June 2023, but only got grant approval in early January 2024. There currently isn’t even a portal through which to submit the invoices, etc, to make a payment claim.”

Following a conversation with a Department of Agriculture official, this Waterford farmer was told that he “could be waiting two to three months at least for payment of 40%, excluding VAT cost.”

SCEP

One specific problem emerged for Josephine Nolan from Co Carlow, who said she is still waiting on the remainder of her Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) payment.

“[The] Department is saying this week it is still being processed, not cleared for payment.”

Nolan added that she is “also waiting to get paid for silage sold last spring as the farmer who bought the silage has not yet received any payment [from] BISS, CRISS or eco schemes. Interest rates are too high for schemes to be held up.”