Getting into GLAS is the first step for farmers. The second step is getting the most out of it. We set out the three tiers for access last week. This week, we look in more detail at four measures that farmers without priority access can choose to increase their chances for access. They are:
Minimum tillage catch crops.Establishment from a sown crop.Low-emission slurry spreading.Wild bird cover.Every farmer looking at GLAS will be different. Intensive dairy, beef or sheep farmers (identified as having whole farm stocking over 140kg of nitrogen produced by livestock per hectare) and tillage farmers with more than 30ha of arable crops must pick at least one of these four options to get into the scheme. If they do, they will move to Tier 1 and be all but guaranteed access. However, farmers with lower stocking rates or less than 30ha of arable crops can choose one of them to increase their chances of access.
Wild bird cover
Wild bird cover attracts a payment of €900/ha for up to 3ha. Intensive livestock farmers using this measure under Tier 1 must sow at least 1ha, with other livestock farmers having to sow just 0.25ha on their farm. It must be a spring-sown crop that is left unharvested over winter to provide food for farmland birds. Farmers can split parcels and can use the remaining part for other measures that include low-input permanent pasture and traditional hay meadows, which will both be popular. The wild bird cover must remain in the same place for the duration of the GLAS contract with the crop remaining until 15 March on the year you exit. In the year in which parcels have been fully replanted, livestock can graze from 15 March to planting time, to aid in the decomposition of the trash.
Farmers can choose one- or two-year mixes. The one-year mix must contain a cereal (either oats or triticale) and at least one species of oilseed rape, linseed and mustard. The two-year mix must contain a cereal (either oats or triticale) and kale. Where the two-year mix is sown, half the plot is sown with cereal and half the plot is sown with kale. You cannot sow in alternative strips, as the cereal must be resown in year two while the kale can remain in situ.
The Department of Agriculture has said that drilling is the preferred sowing method. However, to reduce costs, broadcasting of the seed is permitted. If broadcasting, the seed rate needs to be increased by between one-third (for smaller seeds) and a half (for larger seeds), and you must roll immediately after sowing
Pre-sowing weed control can be used, but pesticides cannot be applied after sowing. However, spot treatment with herbicide for noxious weeds and invasive species is allowed. Parcels must be fenced off and stock-proof from the time the crop is sown until 15 March. Fertilizer can be applied at half the maximum normal rate for cereal crops. If possible, the wild bird cover should be beside hedgerows or near woodland or scrub. It can also be grown along a stream or river where it can have the dual benefit of acting as a buffer margin but will not qualify for riparian margin.
Minimum tillage
Minimum tillage pays €40/ha per year. Tillage farmers with over 30ha of arable crops must sow at least 10ha in this way, with a minimum of 4ha for other farmers who want to use it to get into Tier 2. There is no maximum, so it could add up if a lot of area is submitted. It will certainly be an easy option for farmers already using the system of not ploughing their land. To qualify, they must pick a full LPIS parcel and stick with it for the entire time they are in GLAS. As the action must be in place on the next crop, farmers could plough the fields in which they are planting this spring.
Low-emission slurry spreading
This could be another easy option for livestock farmers once they have access to the necessary machines. They get €1.20/m3 per year and also the benefit that band spreading, injection or trailing shoe bring to increasing utilisation of nutrients. Some farmers will look to contractors who already spread their slurry to see if they will upgrade. It can only be presumed that they will charge more for the service. All of the slurry applied on the farm, produced and imported, must be spread by one of the three methods. Farmers must provide paperwork to confirm the spreading method used and the volumes spread. This is either a calculation of slurry produced, imported and spread, or a receipt from the contractor. The farmer must also indicate on his/her annual slurry declaration return to Johnstown Castle the LPIS parcels where the slurry was spread.
Catch crops
Catch crops pay €155/ha per year and are established after a sown crop to absorb nutrients and prevent leaching in the autumn/winter period. The action is only applicable on LPIS parcels declared as arable in 2015. Catch crops can be rotated on different LPIS parcels each year of the contract but must not go under the initial contracted areas. The parcels selected must be identified in the annual Basic Payment Scheme application.
Farmers have to establish the catch crop by 15 September either by broadcasting or drilling. The minimum area as a priority action is 10ha and 4ha as a general action. The maximum area paid under GLAS is 32ha or just under €5,000 if used to maximise payment.
This area can be rotated from one year to the next. Ploughing is not permitted, but light cultivation such as shallow grubbing is. The cover crop mix must have at least two species. The Department set out a list of 13 species that includes radish, fodder rape, oats, peas and beans, but said additional species would be considered in an integral mix. The under-sowing or sowing of grass crops is not permitted. The catch crops must remain in situ from the date of sowing to 1 December annually. Grazing the catch crops is allowed but only after 1 December. Spraying volunteer cereals is permitted within the catch crops to prevent a carryover of disease through the green bridge.
Breian Carroll
Carroll Consultancy, Swinford, Co Mayo
We had many farmers committed before the scheme even opened and we are receiving enquiries on a daily basis.
We have three advisers, including myself, and while most of our farmers are in Mayo and Galway, we have taken on new clients from Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon. The scheme is very positive for farmers as most of our clients are beef, suckler and sheep farmers. However, I am disappointed that these farmers are not more of a priority in the scheme. It is also unfair that new entrants can’t enter GLAS this year and will have to wait for GLAS 2.
Watercourses will be a big action for many of our farmers as we have the Moy and other major rivers and tributaries in the region. Two-thirds of our farmers have some watercourses and we have some with over 1km of waterways – a big help in increasing payments. After that, the traditional hay meadows and low-input pasture will be popular with farmers to boost payments under the scheme. If we can get a farmer over €3,000 with these measures, we find it easier to then get them the €5,000 maximum payment. Many farmers are also looking at stone walls, orchards and woodlands, with one in three farmers also considering planting hedgerows. Even with all of these actions, the average payment will be around €3,500 to €4,000, mainly due to farm size as farmers farming over 20ha are able to hit the €5,000 easier. We have very few farmers with commonage, but we will do a few commonage management plans.
Our firm saw a big reduction in farmers going into agri-environmental schemes when REPS ended with about a quarter going into AEOS, which got a bad name for no particular reason.
We are charging between €400 and €520 to put in a GLAS plan and €275 minimum plus VAT for the nutrient management plan. The fee each year will range from €300 to €390 plus VAT depending on the farm size. To submit a farmer’s Basic Payment Scheme application we charge €150 upwards depending on the size of the farm and the work involved.
Farmer
John Carroll with Denise Williams from Carroll Consultancy, Swinford. John farms just over 30ha in Urlaur, Kilkelly, Co Mayo, and runs 50-60 beef cattle a year. He was in all four REPS and has missed the income they brought. He is selecting 10ha of low-input permanent pasture, the maximum under the measure. He also aims to fence off 600-700 metres of waterways and plant a couple of hundred metres of hedging. With some land in Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), John is hoping to qualify for GLAS+ and push his total income from the agri-environment scheme over €5,000 a year.
Michael Maloney
Michael Maloney & Associates, Castlebar, Co Mayo
We hope to get about 200 farmers into GLAS, but I only got access to the system to apply this week. We did start to bring five or six farmers into the office each day to see what actions would suit them.
I know most of the farms and the features so we can quickly go through the options. About 30% of our farmers are Tier 1, with 60% in Tier 3 – the lowest priority for access. Talking to other planners, it looks like every farmer who applies could get in this year. I’m encouraging farmers to get into Tier 2 by choosing to do at least 1ha of wild bird cover. This will increase their chances of entry if the scheme is oversubscribed.
Low-input pasture is the first thing that farmers want to look at along with bird cover and most will favour getting up to 200m of hedgerows. If a farmer can get into those three they can quickly get close to the €5,000 maximum. Traditional hay meadows are also popular.
There are a good few stone walls in south Mayo and farmers who have them will look at the stone wall maintenance option. Coppicing hedgerows is also proving popular as a lot of farmers have old hedgerows where they can cut out trees for timber and fence it up.
A few are looking at bird boxes but are not impressed by the small amount of extra money it gives. They will be added if farmers are below €5,000.
The biggest issue is where a farmer has all his land in one LPIS number. As it stands, if they split that parcel for, say, low-nitrogen grassland, they can’t pick another option – so they are very limited. The annoying thing is if they had split the parcel last year into three or four, there would be no problem.
I am charging 10% per annum of what the farmer gets from GLAS. This covers the GLAS plan, a nutrient management plan that has to be done later in the year and records for each of the five years.
We charge €120 to €200 depending on what time is involved for submitting the basic payment application this year. We are also starting to offer complete packages that include tax, environmental schemes and the BPS application, which are proving popular.
Farmer
Tom Walsh with his son Eoin, four, and consultant Michael Maloney. Tom farms 25ha in Manulla, Castlebar, Co Mayo, running 25 pedigree Liumousin suckler cows under Cloverhill herd and 50 ewes. After being in REPS, he missed out on AEOS as he was just over the 22ha. Under GLAS he is looking at 1ha of wild bird cover and around 3ha of low-nitrogen, species-rich grassland. “Most of the farm has been reseeded but I have some old pasture that would suit,” he said. After that he will look to plan a hedge and maintain some of the stone walls than run down the centre of the farm. “My biggest issue is the farm is only in two parcels – one of them is just less than 1ha. It means that I will be limited to around €3,000 a year. If I could split the main parcel I could easily get up to €5,000. I am still considering doing this in 2015 and not entering GLAS until 2016.”
Your queries: I own about 20ha of mixed lowland. To qualify for the 10ha of low-input permanent pasture, can I spread any artificial fertilizer on it?
Yes, you can spread 40kg N/ha. I will go into more detail next week.
Will boundary walls qualify for 70c/metre of payment for dry stone walls?
Yes, they have to be dry stone walls and you have to have control of both sides for maintenance.
Send your queries to
GLAS@farmersjournal.ie
GLAS: Getting the farmers’ viewpoints
GLAS advisor focus: Breian Carroll of Carroll Consultancy
Concerns that not all farmers will get into GLAS
GLAS advisor focus: Michael Maloney of Maloney and Associates
Getting into GLAS is the first step for farmers. The second step is getting the most out of it. We set out the three tiers for access last week. This week, we look in more detail at four measures that farmers without priority access can choose to increase their chances for access. They are:
Minimum tillage catch crops.Establishment from a sown crop.Low-emission slurry spreading.Wild bird cover.Every farmer looking at GLAS will be different. Intensive dairy, beef or sheep farmers (identified as having whole farm stocking over 140kg of nitrogen produced by livestock per hectare) and tillage farmers with more than 30ha of arable crops must pick at least one of these four options to get into the scheme. If they do, they will move to Tier 1 and be all but guaranteed access. However, farmers with lower stocking rates or less than 30ha of arable crops can choose one of them to increase their chances of access.
Wild bird cover
Wild bird cover attracts a payment of €900/ha for up to 3ha. Intensive livestock farmers using this measure under Tier 1 must sow at least 1ha, with other livestock farmers having to sow just 0.25ha on their farm. It must be a spring-sown crop that is left unharvested over winter to provide food for farmland birds. Farmers can split parcels and can use the remaining part for other measures that include low-input permanent pasture and traditional hay meadows, which will both be popular. The wild bird cover must remain in the same place for the duration of the GLAS contract with the crop remaining until 15 March on the year you exit. In the year in which parcels have been fully replanted, livestock can graze from 15 March to planting time, to aid in the decomposition of the trash.
Farmers can choose one- or two-year mixes. The one-year mix must contain a cereal (either oats or triticale) and at least one species of oilseed rape, linseed and mustard. The two-year mix must contain a cereal (either oats or triticale) and kale. Where the two-year mix is sown, half the plot is sown with cereal and half the plot is sown with kale. You cannot sow in alternative strips, as the cereal must be resown in year two while the kale can remain in situ.
The Department of Agriculture has said that drilling is the preferred sowing method. However, to reduce costs, broadcasting of the seed is permitted. If broadcasting, the seed rate needs to be increased by between one-third (for smaller seeds) and a half (for larger seeds), and you must roll immediately after sowing
Pre-sowing weed control can be used, but pesticides cannot be applied after sowing. However, spot treatment with herbicide for noxious weeds and invasive species is allowed. Parcels must be fenced off and stock-proof from the time the crop is sown until 15 March. Fertilizer can be applied at half the maximum normal rate for cereal crops. If possible, the wild bird cover should be beside hedgerows or near woodland or scrub. It can also be grown along a stream or river where it can have the dual benefit of acting as a buffer margin but will not qualify for riparian margin.
Minimum tillage
Minimum tillage pays €40/ha per year. Tillage farmers with over 30ha of arable crops must sow at least 10ha in this way, with a minimum of 4ha for other farmers who want to use it to get into Tier 2. There is no maximum, so it could add up if a lot of area is submitted. It will certainly be an easy option for farmers already using the system of not ploughing their land. To qualify, they must pick a full LPIS parcel and stick with it for the entire time they are in GLAS. As the action must be in place on the next crop, farmers could plough the fields in which they are planting this spring.
Low-emission slurry spreading
This could be another easy option for livestock farmers once they have access to the necessary machines. They get €1.20/m3 per year and also the benefit that band spreading, injection or trailing shoe bring to increasing utilisation of nutrients. Some farmers will look to contractors who already spread their slurry to see if they will upgrade. It can only be presumed that they will charge more for the service. All of the slurry applied on the farm, produced and imported, must be spread by one of the three methods. Farmers must provide paperwork to confirm the spreading method used and the volumes spread. This is either a calculation of slurry produced, imported and spread, or a receipt from the contractor. The farmer must also indicate on his/her annual slurry declaration return to Johnstown Castle the LPIS parcels where the slurry was spread.
Catch crops
Catch crops pay €155/ha per year and are established after a sown crop to absorb nutrients and prevent leaching in the autumn/winter period. The action is only applicable on LPIS parcels declared as arable in 2015. Catch crops can be rotated on different LPIS parcels each year of the contract but must not go under the initial contracted areas. The parcels selected must be identified in the annual Basic Payment Scheme application.
Farmers have to establish the catch crop by 15 September either by broadcasting or drilling. The minimum area as a priority action is 10ha and 4ha as a general action. The maximum area paid under GLAS is 32ha or just under €5,000 if used to maximise payment.
This area can be rotated from one year to the next. Ploughing is not permitted, but light cultivation such as shallow grubbing is. The cover crop mix must have at least two species. The Department set out a list of 13 species that includes radish, fodder rape, oats, peas and beans, but said additional species would be considered in an integral mix. The under-sowing or sowing of grass crops is not permitted. The catch crops must remain in situ from the date of sowing to 1 December annually. Grazing the catch crops is allowed but only after 1 December. Spraying volunteer cereals is permitted within the catch crops to prevent a carryover of disease through the green bridge.
Breian Carroll
Carroll Consultancy, Swinford, Co Mayo
We had many farmers committed before the scheme even opened and we are receiving enquiries on a daily basis.
We have three advisers, including myself, and while most of our farmers are in Mayo and Galway, we have taken on new clients from Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon. The scheme is very positive for farmers as most of our clients are beef, suckler and sheep farmers. However, I am disappointed that these farmers are not more of a priority in the scheme. It is also unfair that new entrants can’t enter GLAS this year and will have to wait for GLAS 2.
Watercourses will be a big action for many of our farmers as we have the Moy and other major rivers and tributaries in the region. Two-thirds of our farmers have some watercourses and we have some with over 1km of waterways – a big help in increasing payments. After that, the traditional hay meadows and low-input pasture will be popular with farmers to boost payments under the scheme. If we can get a farmer over €3,000 with these measures, we find it easier to then get them the €5,000 maximum payment. Many farmers are also looking at stone walls, orchards and woodlands, with one in three farmers also considering planting hedgerows. Even with all of these actions, the average payment will be around €3,500 to €4,000, mainly due to farm size as farmers farming over 20ha are able to hit the €5,000 easier. We have very few farmers with commonage, but we will do a few commonage management plans.
Our firm saw a big reduction in farmers going into agri-environmental schemes when REPS ended with about a quarter going into AEOS, which got a bad name for no particular reason.
We are charging between €400 and €520 to put in a GLAS plan and €275 minimum plus VAT for the nutrient management plan. The fee each year will range from €300 to €390 plus VAT depending on the farm size. To submit a farmer’s Basic Payment Scheme application we charge €150 upwards depending on the size of the farm and the work involved.
Farmer
John Carroll with Denise Williams from Carroll Consultancy, Swinford. John farms just over 30ha in Urlaur, Kilkelly, Co Mayo, and runs 50-60 beef cattle a year. He was in all four REPS and has missed the income they brought. He is selecting 10ha of low-input permanent pasture, the maximum under the measure. He also aims to fence off 600-700 metres of waterways and plant a couple of hundred metres of hedging. With some land in Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), John is hoping to qualify for GLAS+ and push his total income from the agri-environment scheme over €5,000 a year.
Michael Maloney
Michael Maloney & Associates, Castlebar, Co Mayo
We hope to get about 200 farmers into GLAS, but I only got access to the system to apply this week. We did start to bring five or six farmers into the office each day to see what actions would suit them.
I know most of the farms and the features so we can quickly go through the options. About 30% of our farmers are Tier 1, with 60% in Tier 3 – the lowest priority for access. Talking to other planners, it looks like every farmer who applies could get in this year. I’m encouraging farmers to get into Tier 2 by choosing to do at least 1ha of wild bird cover. This will increase their chances of entry if the scheme is oversubscribed.
Low-input pasture is the first thing that farmers want to look at along with bird cover and most will favour getting up to 200m of hedgerows. If a farmer can get into those three they can quickly get close to the €5,000 maximum. Traditional hay meadows are also popular.
There are a good few stone walls in south Mayo and farmers who have them will look at the stone wall maintenance option. Coppicing hedgerows is also proving popular as a lot of farmers have old hedgerows where they can cut out trees for timber and fence it up.
A few are looking at bird boxes but are not impressed by the small amount of extra money it gives. They will be added if farmers are below €5,000.
The biggest issue is where a farmer has all his land in one LPIS number. As it stands, if they split that parcel for, say, low-nitrogen grassland, they can’t pick another option – so they are very limited. The annoying thing is if they had split the parcel last year into three or four, there would be no problem.
I am charging 10% per annum of what the farmer gets from GLAS. This covers the GLAS plan, a nutrient management plan that has to be done later in the year and records for each of the five years.
We charge €120 to €200 depending on what time is involved for submitting the basic payment application this year. We are also starting to offer complete packages that include tax, environmental schemes and the BPS application, which are proving popular.
Farmer
Tom Walsh with his son Eoin, four, and consultant Michael Maloney. Tom farms 25ha in Manulla, Castlebar, Co Mayo, running 25 pedigree Liumousin suckler cows under Cloverhill herd and 50 ewes. After being in REPS, he missed out on AEOS as he was just over the 22ha. Under GLAS he is looking at 1ha of wild bird cover and around 3ha of low-nitrogen, species-rich grassland. “Most of the farm has been reseeded but I have some old pasture that would suit,” he said. After that he will look to plan a hedge and maintain some of the stone walls than run down the centre of the farm. “My biggest issue is the farm is only in two parcels – one of them is just less than 1ha. It means that I will be limited to around €3,000 a year. If I could split the main parcel I could easily get up to €5,000. I am still considering doing this in 2015 and not entering GLAS until 2016.”
Your queries: I own about 20ha of mixed lowland. To qualify for the 10ha of low-input permanent pasture, can I spread any artificial fertilizer on it?
Yes, you can spread 40kg N/ha. I will go into more detail next week.
Will boundary walls qualify for 70c/metre of payment for dry stone walls?
Yes, they have to be dry stone walls and you have to have control of both sides for maintenance.
Send your queries to
GLAS@farmersjournal.ie
GLAS: Getting the farmers’ viewpoints
GLAS advisor focus: Breian Carroll of Carroll Consultancy
Concerns that not all farmers will get into GLAS
GLAS advisor focus: Michael Maloney of Maloney and Associates
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