An extensive grazing measure for livestock farmers is among the eco schemes planned by the Department of Agriculture in the next CAP, the Irish Farmers Journal can reveal.

The “extensive livestock production” measure would see farmers have to comply with a specified maximum overall stocking rate for the calendar year.

Farmers are expected to select two of the five measures to maximise their eco-scheme payment.

It revealed the eco schemes to farm organisations on Thursday at a CAP consultative committee meeting.

Five measures under consideration:

Non-productive areas and landscape features

This measure would see farmers devote an increased proportion of land to non-productive areas and features above the baseline required under Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) 9.

This GAEC dictates that tillage farmers will have to set aside at least 4% of their farm as non-productive areas, which may include land lying fallow or landscape features.

Farmers can use catch crops or nitrogen-fixing crops to meet the requirement, but if they choose that option, the minimum percentage will increase to 7%, of which 3% must be non-productive.

Extensive livestock production

As mentioned already, this measure will see farmers have to comply with a specified maximum overall stocking rate for the calendar year.

Limiting chemical nitrogen input

This will see farmers comply with a specified chemical nitrogen usage limit for the calendar year.

Planting of native trees

For this measure, farmers will have to plant a minimum number of native trees per eligible hectare.

Use of GPS-controlled fertiliser spreader to apply chemical fertilisers

This will see farmers apply chemical fertiliser with a GPS-controlled fertiliser spreader.

In January of this year, the Department of Agriculture included GPS-controlled fertiliser spreaders in the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Grant (TAMS) II scheme for all farmers.

Up until that point, they were only available to tillage farmers.

Payments

The Department has said that where a farmer only selects one action or selects two but only complies with one, the expectation at present is that the farmer would receive a half-rate eco scheme payment.

Farmers will receive a payment on all eligible hectares on their holding, with the Department stating in documents seen by the Irish Farmers Journal that payments will be made on additional costs incurred and income foregone, as set out in the EU regulations of the draft CAP strategic plan.

Eco schemes will be open to all active farmers in the country or groups of active farmers, the Department said.