Farmers in Laois are in the top ten earners for average payments in the country under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).
The Farming Independent revealed this week that eighty-seven Irish farmers received in excess of €125,000 under the scheme last year, with a further 102 getting between €100,000 and €125,000.
The figures are included in Department of Agriculture data which was released to the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) following a freedom of information request.
A total of 2,913 Laois farmers received €36,833,944.10.
This represented an average payment of €12,644.
Waterford were the highest recipients, with 2,377 farmers receiving payments of €36,071,995.79 – an average payment of €15,175.
Kilkenny was next highest with 3,367 farmers receiving €49,171,757.94 – an average payment of €14,604 per recipient.
The number of high earners is just a fraction of the 124,000 farmers who qualify for CAP payments – less than 1pc received over €100,000 in Waterford last year even though the county has the highest average BPS.
According to the Farming Independent, the top earners from the BPS each year are AIBP owner Larry Goodman, the Quelly brothers who are major shareholders in Dawn Meats, and the O’Shea family who own Iverk Produce in south Kilkenny.
The counties with the highest number of farmers receiving payments over €100,000 were Cork and Meath, with 29 recipients each.
Kildare comes next with 10 farmers who received in excess of €100,000 in 2017, while Louth had 11 and Waterford had 10.
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