The president of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) Francie Gorman said it is "vital" that the government fuel support scheme "delivers meaningful cost reductions for farmers".

The government today (Wednesday, April 29) unveiled the full details of a €100 million fuel support scheme aimed at farmers and contractors.

The package comes as fuel prices, including green diesel, have soared in recent weeks due to the ongoing war in the Middle East.

The scheme will cover fuel usage from March through to the end of July and is based on verified consumption from last year. It is expected that applications are set to open from next week.

Fuel support scheme

The IFA president said that "farmers sit at the end of the value chain and cannot pass on the massive increases in energy and fertiliser prices we have seen over the past two months".

"That’s why it is so important that the fuel support package delivers cost reductions to farmer, both directly via the 20 cent green diesel rebate scheme and indirectly by minimising cost increases in agri contracting services," Gorman said.

The IFA president said the fuel support scheme must be "easy to apply for, for both farmers and contractors, and that funds are paid out as quickly as possible".

"It is also clear that there appears to be no end in sight to the spike in oil prices; the government has to be ready to extend these supports beyond July if the disruption to energy markets continues into the summer," he added.

Gorman also said that further support is likely to be required, particularly when it comes to fertiliser.

"When you factor in the rebate scheme, green diesel prices are currently running about 15-20% higher than before the Middle East conflict, which is still a significant increase.

"But the price of fertiliser is up well over 50% and we have seen no support whatsoever from either our own department or Brussels in trying to mitigate this," he said.

The IFA president said there has been "no move" by the European Commission on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) "despite numerous calls across Europe for its suspension".

The CBAM is effectively a tax on imports of carbon-intensive products into the EU, including fertiliser.

European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen, who is currently working on an EU fertiliser plan, has appeared to pour cold water on the suggestion to suspend CBAM.

The IFA said that Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon "needs to either deliver on CBAM or else provide alternative supports to deal with the spike in fertiliser prices and ensure we do not have a situation where fodder and feed production across the country is compromised".