Farm scheme eligibility: the four questions
Hectares, herd number, payment entitlements, and what you grow. Answer these four and you know whether Irish farm-scheme money is open to your holding at all.
Most people start with the wrong question. They ask which structure to register or which grant to chase, when four facts about the holding decide whether either question matters. Answer these four honestly, in writing, before you spend anything on advice or paperwork.
The rule underneath all four. Farm schemes turn on who farms the land, who holds the herd number, and who holds the payment entitlements — not on what kind of body you register. Registering a co-op, a company or a partnership creates no entitlements of its own and does not lower a scheme's minimum area.
1. Question one: how many hectares?
Two different minimums apply. You need to clear the one that matches what you actually do with the ground.
| Scheme | Minimum area | Where that comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Organic Farming Scheme | 3 hectares — but only 1 hectare if you are a horticultural producer | Applications under 1 ha are considered only for horticulture, with accounts proving a commercial enterprise. OFS Terms & Conditions 2026, s.5(b) |
| Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) | 1 eligible hectare — agricultural land of a type the Department treats as eligible for payment (check the current list for your land type) | Citizens Information, BISS |
For the Organic Farming Scheme, at least 50% of the eligible area must be cropped each year, and green manure does not count towards that 50%. (OFS T&C 2026, s.9(a) and (e))
What does not count. Commonage is not eligible for Organic Farming Scheme payment. Neither are grazing rights, rented land, farmyards, farm roadways, forestry (with limited exceptions) or other non-organic productive land. (OFS T&C 2026, s.8(d)) On a holding that includes hill or commonage, that single rule can remove most of the area you were counting on.
2. Question two: is there a herd number?
BISS needs a registered herd number, or an application for one submitted by the deadline — the 2026 deadline was 15 May 2026. (Citizens Information, BISS)
If the number has lapsed, that is the first call to make, and it is a Department of Agriculture process to confirm — check this with your local DAFM office rather than assuming it can be revived.
- Horses help here. An equine over six months old counts as 0.8 livestock units for the active-farmer stocking test. One horse clears the required 0.10 livestock units per hectare many times over. (Teagasc, BISS: equine and active-farmer rules)
- But they need their own registration. The holding needs a herd number or an equine premises number for the animals to count. (same Teagasc source)
- Stocking rate is not the only route. Other farming activity — crops, hay or silage, topping — can satisfy the active-farmer test. (Citizens Information, BISS)
3. Question three: are there payment entitlements?
This is the question that catches people out, because eligibility is not the same as money. BISS is paid on payment entitlements. The published wording is blunt:
It is not necessary to have entitlements to make an application for BISS, though there will not be a BISS payment without entitlements. (Teagasc, BISS)
Entitlements come from a previous scheme, from a transfer, or from the National Reserve. Two figures matter for 2026: no farmer can receive more than €285 per entitlement, and no payment is made where the total comes to under €100. (BISS 2026 entitlements note) (gov.ie, BISS)
The National Reserve (New Farmer) route to entitlements has conditions that may rule out anyone who has farmed before: it requires, among other things, that you started farming in 2023 or later, have not farmed previously, and hold a Level 6 agricultural qualification. (National Reserve, New Farmer Category) Whether a previously held herd number disqualifies you is not confirmed — check this with DAFM before you build a plan on it.
4. Question four: horticulture or livestock?
On a small holding this is the fork that decides everything. Grow and sell produce commercially and the 1 hectare horticulture route into the Organic Farming Scheme is open. Run stock and the 3 hectare minimum applies with no exception.
The rates for the horticulture band (1–70 ha) are:
| Stage | Rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Years 1–2 (in conversion) | €800 per hectare | OFS T&C 2026, s.9(a); Citizens Information, OFS |
| Years 3–5 (fully converted) | €600 per hectare | |
| Participation payment (on top) | €2,000 in year 1, €1,400 per year after, to cover administration | OFS T&C 2026, s.9(e) |
Four conditions attach to that money, and they all bite on a small holding:
- Land must be owned or controlled for 5 years, and declared on BISS every year of the contract. (OFS T&C 2026, s.4(d))
- Training is required — a 25-hour Organic Production Principles course — unless you were previously in REPS SM6 or a previous Organic Farming Scheme. (OFS T&C 2026, s.4(b)) (Teagasc, organics training)
- Equines are restricted. For Organic Farming Scheme stocking-rate purposes, donkeys are ineligible and only equines certified organic or in conversion, and named on the licence, count. (OFS T&C 2026, s.9(f))
- Application windows are short. The 2026 window opened on 19 November 2025 and closed on 12 December 2025, with the contract starting 1 January 2026. That round is gone. The next tranche's opening date is not published — check this with Teagasc or the Department before you plan around it. (OFS T&C 2026, s.7(a))
5. The five-minute checklist
Fill this in on one page. If a box is empty, that is your next phone call, not your next application.
| Question | Your answer | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Total hectares farmed? | Whether you clear the 3 ha Organic Farming Scheme floor at all | |
| Of that, hectares that are eligible (no commonage, no grazing rights, no rented land, no farmyard or roadway)? | The real eligible area — often much smaller than the total | |
| Do you sell horticultural produce commercially, with accounts to prove it? | Whether the 1 hectare horticulture minimum applies to you | |
| At least 50% of the eligible area cropped this year? | An Organic Farming Scheme condition, not a preference | |
| Herd number, live, in your name? | BISS at all — and a herd or equine premises number | |
| Payment entitlements held? | Whether BISS pays anything, rather than just accepting an application | |
| 25-hour organic training done? | Whether an Organic Farming Scheme application can proceed | |
| Land owned or controlled for 5 years? | Whether the land qualifies for the contract period |
6. What the answers mean
- Under 3 hectares and not a commercial grower: the Organic Farming Scheme door is shut. Stop budgeting for it and look at the garden-scale routes instead.
- Under 3 hectares and selling produce commercially: the 1 hectare horticulture route is the single strongest reason to make the holding a growing business rather than a livestock one. It is also the one condition you can change.
- No herd number or no entitlements: BISS is an eligibility question with a money answer that may still be zero. Find out the entitlement position before the herd number argument, not after.
- Commonage or hill land in the total: subtract it now. It is not payable under the Organic Farming Scheme, and it is the most common reason a plan fails at the paperwork stage.
- All four answers good: then — and only then — the structure question is worth asking, and the four structures and their costs are where to go next.
Two things to check before you rely on any of this. First, the next Organic Farming Scheme tranche opening date is not published. Second, whether a lapsed herd number can be reactivated — and whether holding one previously blocks the National Reserve route — is a question for DAFM, not for a website. Ask, and write down who told you and when.
Not legal or farm-scheme advice. The thresholds and rates here are the published ones at the time of writing and they change. Take these four answers to Teagasc, to your local DAFM office, or to an agricultural accountant, and get the position in writing before you commit to anything.
Free to copy, adapt and pass on.