Cork TD says new €5m scheme will benefit young farmers

A Cork TD has said that “forgotten farmers” across the city and county will benefit from a new scheme aimed at supporting young farmers who missed out on previous government funding.

The scheme, entitled Long Established Young Farmers, comes following the completion of a survey, carried out in May, to assess the needs of a certain cohort of the farming community.

The Long Established Young Farmers scheme, which secured €5m in Budget 2025, is now open for submissions until August 13 at 5.30pm.

The targeted group to benefit from the fund is defined as young farmers who were under the age of 40 in 2015; who had commenced in agriculture prior to 2008; did not receive young farmer Installation Aid and were not eligible for young farmer supports under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) from 2015 due to the date they had first set up in agriculture.

Fine Gael Cork North Central TD, Colm Burke, said this scheme will recognise the hard work of farmers in Cork that missed out on payments previously.

“It’s great to see this anomaly being addressed with the opening of application for this scheme,” Mr Burke said.

“So many farmers across the country have waited for this issue to be addressed.

“€5m was allocated for this scheme in the budget to ensure that these farmers get access to this vital scheme,” he added.

“The government also committed to delivering a scheme that recognises the forgotten farmers in the programme for government.

“Online applications can be submitted until August 13 and I encourage all those eligible in Cork to apply,” he said. “Farmers can be reassured that we are doing everything we can to support the agricultural sector.”

For more information, including a guide to completing the online application, visit: https://tinyurl.com/yty6d5y7.