Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) Scheme

The Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) replaces the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). The BISS is designed to provide a direct income support to Irish farmers to underpin their continued sustainability and viability.

The main income support will continue to be based on Payment Entitlements.

You must have 1 eligible hectare to support each Payment Entitlement.

To receive a support under BISS, applicants must:

• have an Eligible Hectare to accompany each Payment Entitlement. One Eligible Hectare of land declared = one BISS Payment Entitlement
• be a holder of a registered herd number or have applied for a herd number on or before 15 May 2026
• be an Active Farmer: The person claiming payments on the land must be the person farming and/or managing the land, that is, the Active Farmer. The farming activities can include meeting a minimum stocking rate (0.10 livestock unit per forage hectare), producing crops, cutting hay/silage, maintaining landscape features. If you are not the person farming/managing the land, you should not be declaring the land on your 2026 BISS application

You are paid per hectare of eligible land farmed and for which you hold entitlements. Under the scheme, this is called an eligible hectare. The maximum rate that you could be paid per hectare is determined by the value of the entitlements you hold.

The number and values of entitlements each farmer holds, depends on factors such as:

• payment rates and number of entitlements received under previous direct payment schemes
• adjustments each year to move values towards the national average (convergence)
• transfers of entitlements between farmers

Each entitlement the farmer holds must be supported by an Eligible Hectare to qualify for payment.

Maximum and minimum payment

The maximum payment that will be granted to any one farmer under the BISS, in any one scheme year is capped at an effective rate of €66,000. No payment will be made under the BISS where the amount is less than €100.

An advance payment may be made in October. Balancing payments under the BISS commence in December.

If you do not meet all of the conditions of the scheme you may receive a reduced payment or no payment.

Applications must be submitted online by midnight on Friday 15 May 2026.

To apply online, go to: MyAgFood.ie

If your login or password has expired and need to be renewed, please contact the department’s Online Services Helpdesk.

Alternatively, you can authorise a Farm Advisory System (FAS) approved Advisor to apply on your behalf. For a listing of approved advisors please go to: Farm Advisory System (FAS).

This is the helpsheet and conditions of the 2026 Basic Income Support for Sustainability and other area related schemes.

Help Video - Adding Parcels

Help Video - Adding Plots

Help Video - Deleting Lands

Help Video - Request Change to Eligible Hectare

Help Video - Subdivisions

Help Video – Merging Parcels

Help Video – Adding GAEC8/Eco SfN Mapped Features

• closing date for applications - 15 May 2026
• closing date for transfer of entitlements - 15 May 2026
• amending your application (no penalty) - 31 May 2026
• late application deadline (with a penalty) - 09 June 2026
• preliminary checks response deadline - 23 June 2026
• Area Monitoring Check notification commence - June 2026

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will host a series of 16 in-person Farmer Clinics to assist farmers in making their applications online for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based schemes.

Farmer only clinics will be supported by Department staff and will be particularly useful for farmers who do not have an FAS approved advisor to assist them with their application. No registration required.

Farmers planning to attend the clinics must bring details of their MyAgFood.ie account and the mobile phone used for login, and details of herd number, PPSN etc to verify their identity.