Emergency water infrastructure rebate kicks off early

Cash payments will finally flow into the bank accounts of those farmers whose applications have been sitting in limbo after they were were approved last year for the emergency water infrastructure rebate scheme (EWIRS).

The Land can reveal around 500 eligible farmers, who missed out in the last round of the scheme, will see money in the bank from today.

It's been more than a year since the scheme, which is funded by both federal and state governments, was oversubscribed and stopped as the money dried up.

The federal government secured an additional $50m last October after it reversed its decision to scrap the program due to pressure from The Land, NSW government and NSW Farmers.

In April, the NSW government announced it would contribute $15m to unlock a total of $30m in a dollar-for-dollar fund with the federal government.

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Today Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the NSW government's priority was to process 500 applications from eligible primary producers who missed out last time, before round two started at the end of this month.

"There's nothing more important than supporting our primary producers to invest in infrastructure that will make them more resilient next time the inevitable drought hits," Mr Barilaro said.

Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall welcomed the early kick-off for payments with expressions of interest for round two already live on the Rural Assistance Authority's (RAA) website.

"Payments are going out the door today, so if you applied for round one and have been successful, there is nothing you need to do, you should see the funds in your account within days," Mr Marshall said.

The scheme is administered by the RAA, where farmers are able to claim up to 25 per cent of eligible infrastructure costs, and is capped at $25,000.

Round two of EWIRS opens on July 1.

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