Burned land penalties imposed in 2017 have been reduced by more than half for affected farmers.

IFA is advising farmers to continue with the appeals process and that no penalty should apply unless it can be proven that the farmer himself was responsible for the burning.

In total, about 180 farmers were notified that they were being penalised because some of the land included on their 2017 BPS application had been burned out of season.

The penalties imposed would work out in the following way for a farmer with 20ha, entitlements of €200/ha and with 5ha deemed ineligible due to burning after the 1 March deadline.

The 5ha x €200 would equate to a €1,000 fine, with the administrative penalty of €1,000 x 1.5 imposing an additional €1,500, leading to an original total of €2,500 in penalties.

About one third of the farmers involved faced no penalty, as they held more eligible land than entitlements.

A similar number were penalised less than €1,000, but penalties exceeded €10,000 in a few cases.

Following appeals from the vast majority of farmers, the Department has decided to remove the imposition of any administrative penalty, reducing the total penalty in this case back to €1,000, a 60% decrease.

IFA Hill Committee chair Flor McCarthy says that farmers who are still unhappy should bring their case to the Agricultural Appeals Office.

“IFA will support farmers in arguing that unless the Department can prove culpability, payment must be made on the land in question,” he said.

McCarthy added that land subjected to penalty for 2017 due to burning of vegetation is eligible for payment this year, despite not being included on the pre-printed applications posted out by the Department.

“All lands are included on the online system which must be used this year,” he explained.