Mayo farmers among top recipients of ANC funding with nearly €20m coming into the county
9,050 Mayo farmers will start receiving payments today under the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme.
A total of €19.6m will go to farmers across the county.
The ANC scheme provides payments to people farming land in designated areas that are subject to significant hardships from factors such as remoteness, difficult terrain, adverse weather, and poor soil quality.
Nationwide, Mayo has the second highest number of farmers who will benefit from the ANC scheme. In first place is Galway with 9,627 farmers receiving a total of €20.3m.
While Mayo’s terrain has historically been seen as difficult, the county is increasingly recognised as one of the most attractive places in the country for new farm enterprises.
Thanks to the strong availability of land, high levels of state support, and targeted grant schemes like the ANC, Mayo is becoming a more attractive county for both established and first-generation farmers.
A 2024 study by Calor Gas ranked Mayo as the third best county in Ireland to start a farming enterprise, following Cork and Galway. The ranking considered factors like land availability, government support, the amount of rainfall, and the number of sunlight hours.
Nationwide, a total of €183.2m has been issued out by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to nearly 87,000 farmers under the ANC scheme.
The payments currently being issued are an 85pc advance payment on the ANC scheme, with the remaining 15pc of payments due to start in early December, according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Minister of State and Mayo TD, Alan Dillon, has said that the payments commencing today represent a significant milestone achieved, and are in line with dates agreed in the Farmers’ Charter.
He said: “The ANC scheme is crucial to farm families across Mayo, and I know the importance of getting payments out to applicants as quickly as possible. The issuing of these payments in mid-September highlights our commitment to make payments to farmers at the earliest possible time.”
“Payments will be visible in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days, and the department will continue to process, as a matter of urgency, all remaining cases for payment as they meet scheme criteria.”
Minister Dillon has also received confirmation from his colleague Minister Heydon that the department is on track to facilitate the payment of the 70pc advance under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS), and the Complementary Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS), from 16 October 2025, and payments under the Eco-Scheme from 23 October, 2025.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.