Farm Assist 2026: the weekly payment for low-income farmers

Farm Assist is a weekly payment you can get while you keep farming. The means test is built around the fact that farm income swings from year to year, and only part of your farm profit is counted.

Who can get Farm Assist

Citizens Information sets out four conditions. You must be a farmer, farming land in Ireland, aged 18 to 66, and pass a means test.

You count as a farmer if you farm land you own or lease for husbandry. "Husbandry means working the land with the aim of taking produce from the land."

Leasing matters. "If you have leased all your land, you are not eligible for Farm Assist." Lease out only part of it and that rent is counted in full, separately from your farm income.

How your farm income is counted

"Farm income and other income from off-farm self-employment is assessed at 70% (down from 100% since March 2017), with additional annual disregards of €254 for each of the first two children and €381 for the third and other children."

The order matters. "(The disregards for dependent children are applied first and 70% of the balance is assessed.)" So a farmer with two children takes €254 off twice, then only 70% of what is left counts.

It is your profit, not your turnover. The inspector deducts the costs of running the farm. "These costs may include rent, annuities, the cost of inputs like feed and fertiliser and the depreciation of farm machinery."

One cost is never allowed: your own work. "Labour costs are taken into account, with the exception of the labour of the farmer and their spouse, civil partner or cohabitant."

A bad year is not locked in either. The last 12 months are the starting point, but "However, it is not simply assumed that your previous year’s earnings will be repeated the following year as farmers can have significant variations in income from year to year."

Ask for the workings. "You are entitled to receive a copy of this farm income calculation." If a figure in it is wrong, that is the basis of an appeal.

Farm scheme payments and off-farm work

Payments from certain environmental farm schemes get extra relief:

• The first €5,000 a year is ignored
• Half of the rest is ignored too
• The costs of complying with the scheme are deducted
• Only the balance counts as means

The schemes Citizens Information names as examples are REPS, AEOS and GLAS. Check the full list on gov.ie for which current schemes qualify. "Direct payments do not get the above disregards."

Wages from a job off the farm are counted like this. "€20 per day (up to a maximum of €60) is deducted from your assessable weekly earnings and then 60% of the balance is assessed as weekly means." Seasonal work only counts while you are doing it.

Savings count too, but "The first €20,000 of your capital is not taken into account." Your own home is not counted as capital.

Farm Assist rates for 2026

• Personal rate: up to €254 a week
• Increase for a qualified adult: €168.60
• Each child under 12: €58 (full rate) or €29 (half rate)
• Each child 12 or over: €78 (full rate) or €39 (half rate)

The full child rate is paid if you also get the increase for a qualified adult. If you do not, you may get the half rate for each child.

These are maximums. Your weekly means are what decide how much of them you are paid.

How to apply

"To apply for Farm Assist, fill in Farm Assist form (FARM 1) and return it to your local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office."

Have your accounts ready. "When you apply for Farm Assist, a social welfare inspector will call to see you and ask to see various documents." That means tax accounts, creamery returns, cattle cards and records of scheme payments and sales.

If you are refused, you have 60 days to appeal in writing or by email to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

Common questions

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