Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has been called on to begin discussions about a GLAS extension for 36,000 farmers whose contracts expire this year.
IFA rural development chair Michael Biggins said there should be an option to extend the contracts for a further two years as the next CAP is unlikely to be ready before 2023.
The IFA has outlined points it says should be considered:
Payment rates across all current GLAS measures must be at least maintained. Capital work payments, such as fencing along water courses and hedging, are extended with a farmer commitment that the action will be maintained for the duration of the transition. The cost of extending a plan must be simple with a declaration by the farmer that they will continue to carry out all the measures laid out in the original plan. A simple plan for one or two years for new entrants to farming since GLAS closed in 2016 and the 3,000 farmers whose AEOS contracts expired in 2018 so they can join a revamped agri-environment scheme in the next CAP.
Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has been called on to begin discussions about a GLAS extension for 36,000 farmers whose contracts expire this year.
IFA rural development chair Michael Biggins said there should be an option to extend the contracts for a further two years as the next CAP is unlikely to be ready before 2023.
The IFA has outlined points it says should be considered:
Payment rates across all current GLAS measures must be at least maintained. Capital work payments, such as fencing along water courses and hedging, are extended with a farmer commitment that the action will be maintained for the duration of the transition. The cost of extending a plan must be simple with a declaration by the farmer that they will continue to carry out all the measures laid out in the original plan. A simple plan for one or two years for new entrants to farming since GLAS closed in 2016 and the 3,000 farmers whose AEOS contracts expired in 2018 so they can join a revamped agri-environment scheme in the next CAP. 
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