Pressure is mounting to allow the 2,500 farmers rejected from the second tranche of GLAS into the scheme.

Agricultural Consultants Associations (ACA) president Laura Johnston confirmed that the ACA is meeting the Department of Agriculture to push for inclusion for these farmers.

Johnston said that it was the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney who set out that there would be 13,000 places available in the second tranche. “It is very disappointing for him to turn around and say that the farmers can simply apply latter in the autumn,” she said.

The Department has started sending out rejection letters to the farmers this week. These farmers are predominantly tier three farmers and are likely to be lowland suckler farmers on lower incomes.

IFA rural development chair Flor McCarthy has called on the Minister to immediately intervene. He said it is unacceptable that these farmers are now being told that they are ineligible for GLAS as they are tier three farmers. In many instances, these farmers have put in significant GLAS plans and have paid their planner to draw these plans up.

“Telling the 2,500 farmers that they can apply later in the year for the next phase of GLAS will result in these farmers getting no payment at all in 2016,” said McCarthy.

Priority

Success in getting the farmers back in is not garuanteed. The Department clearly gave priority for the second tranche to what are called tier one and tier two candidates. The Minister said that tier three farmers who were unsuccessful this time round will be free to apply again, or indeed to upgrade their applications under tranche three due to open in the autumn, to increase the chances of success.

Separately, the IFA has also called for a concession on the deadline to complete the GLAS watercourse fencing requirement. In the first phase of GLAS, farmers who have watercourses must have them fenced off by the end of March.

Waived

“This must be waived as recent flooding is making it impossible for farmers to complete this task. It is likely that in many areas the floods will not have subsided by the end of March. The date to complete this task under GLAS should be extended to the end of May,” said McCarthy.