For cattle and sheep farmers, the issues on land eligibility remain one of the biggest concerns as they attempt to retain 100% of their Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payment.

For some farmers it can be very difficult to prevent rushes, reeds or scrub developing on farmland, especially if weather is very wet and stocking rate is low. Some common sense must apply from Department inspectors.

The simple example is controlling rushes. Farmers who have heavier land that is more prone to growing rushes have to manage the weather and must be able to travel land if they want to control them. Our Department suggests for many parcels the eligibility status of lands containing rushes will be influenced by the height of the rushes showing if active management is taking place. Therefore there is an onus, however difficult, for farmers to manage the issue but also on inspectors to acknowledge the practicalities of the situation.

Other issues

In this Focus we look in detail at some of the other issues that cause problems at farm level which are realised as penalties on the BPS payment.

The big issue for expanding farms is slurry storage capacity. While there are alternative solutions such as straw bedding, contract-rearing, etc, putting storage capacity in place is necessary as stocking rate is normally too high for out-wintering stock.

There is a significant cost to this and is part of the reason behind the BPS annual payment.

Office jobs

The other office jobs that are now very important for all farmers include maintaining animal health records, planning and using the right amount of bag fertilisers and storing and using sprays.

All these jobs are now as important as the daily chores inside the farm gate.