The Department of Agriculture has advised farmers to check their applications for the Basic Payment Scheme to ensure that they have not included any ineligible land.

Examples of ineligible features include buildings, roads, yards, scrub, rock and land burned since 1 March.

The Department says farmers should also check that all parcel boundaries are aligned with the physical parcel boundary.

Farmers are reminded that if they burn land after 1 March, there could be a number of consequences, including:

  • They risk prosecution.
  • Such land will not be eligible for payment under the Basic Payment Scheme and other area-based schemes.
  • Inclusion of illegally burned land in the 2018 Basic Payment Scheme application may result in reduced payment and penalties under this scheme and the other area-based schemes, eg Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme.
  • Illegal burning can also render the land of neighbours ineligible for payment where the fire encroaches on to such land.
  • Where it is identified that lands were burned during the closed season, this may result in such land being inspected by Department officials.

    • This has been a contentious issue with farmers in hill areas. There have been gorse fires in the past which have deemed vast tracks of land ineligible and affected farmers were also issued with penalties as a result. They are appealing these penalties currently.

    Amendments

    Farmers can make amendments to their applications without penalty until 31 May (9 June with penalty), and they should remove any land that is ineligible.

    They say officials in the Department are obliged by EU regulations to analyse applications in order to identify ineligible features, including land which was burned during the specified closed season of 1 March to 31 August, and satellite imagery is being examined as part of this process.

    Agricultural and eligible forestry land identified as ineligible will be deemed ineligible for payment under the 2018 Basic Payment and other area-based schemes, according to the Department.