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Farmers are anxiously watching new maps being rolled out by the Department of Agriculture.
The Department has told the Irish Farmers Journal that if there is a decrease in the eligible area of a parcel as a result of the new maps, it will reduce the claimed area to prevent an overclaim. This could force farmers into renting land to keep their payments or leasing out entitlements.
If the eligible area is increased, the claimed area can also increase.
The mapping system is expected to be completed for the whole country by 2021.
Louth farmers will be the only ones to see any changes in their 2019 Basic Payment Scheme due to the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) review.
The new maps are more difficult to read than previous versions, agricultural advisers have told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“The clarity isn’t as good as other years. It’s harder to see features on the ground,” said Dundalk Teagasc adviser Hugh Rooney. He noted that the overall claim area in Louth is not expected to change as a result of the LPIS review.
Louth adviser Pat McGuinness said the new maps are quite dark. “On one set there were some parcel numbers missing. They were on the side of the map but not on the parcels,” he added.
Farmers who are unhappy with the new mapped areas are advised to use the appeals system.
The European Commission is still auditing Ireland over land eligibility issues in previous years.
Ireland faces an estimated fine of €210m for those mapping issues.
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