Nearly £260 million has been issued to Northern Irish farmers on the first day of direct payments, the Department of Agriculture (DAERA) has confirmed.
Direct payments have been sent to over 23,000 farmers, representing 98% of eligible applicants, the department said.
It added that payments will continue to be released following successful validation checks for "the small number of remaining applications".
DAERA Minister Andrew Muir said: "I am committed to ensuring both the environmental and economic sustainability of NI’s significant agriculture sector.
“These payments represent a significant boost to those families and to rural communities."
DAERA said that the 2024 total ceiling for direct payments has been confirmed as £293,527,012, which is equivalent to the ceiling for 2023.
This figure is used to calculate Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) entitlement values, the Young Farmer Payment, the Protein Crop Scheme and the Beef Carbon Reduction Scheme for the 2024 scheme year.
And from today, payments totalling £260,000 will also issue to farmers who applied for the Protein Crops Scheme.
Beef Carbon Reduction payments for the 2024 scheme year will be issued separately, in March 2025.
DAERA has reminded farm businesses to ensure prompt payment they should check that both their contact, and bank details are up to date.
It added that notification of payment details will be made through its messaging service.
The department added that it will prompt farm businesses, by issuing an email to the scheme applicant, when a new message is available to view.
