One in three Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) penalties in 2015 were applied for breaches of the stocking rate, costing farmers a total of €1.9m alone. 1,629 farmers were above the 170kg N/ha limit which had the highest average penalty payment at €1,157.19 in a total of 1,629 herds.

Cross compliance, including breaches of the stocking rate, cost farmers €4.4m last year in total. Just 43% of the 9,428 herds with cross compliance breaches received sanctions.

Land eligibility sanctions amounted to a total figure of €461,901. Almost 6% of the 7,977 herds inspected for land eligibility under the Basic Payment Scheme received sanctions. The average penalty amount was €984.86.

Overall, the total value of BPS sanctions fell from €5.3m in 2014 to just under €4.9m last year.

The Charter of Farmer Rights meeting requested a breakdown of sanctions on a county-by-county basis to show the full impact of inspections and penalties in each area.

Non-compliance

Aside from stocking rates, when you break down the areas of non-compliance, the “inadequate collection of livestock manures” accounted for the highest proportion of nitrates breaches. Further to that, minimisation of soiled water, structural defects of storage facilities, inadequate management of storage facilities, farmyard manure stockpiled during the prohibited spreading period and non-compliance with buffers were the other main offenses.

Nearly two-thirds of cattle identification and registration offences were in relation to tagging. Separately, the highest proportion of sheep and goat identification and registration breaches were in relation to the census, with just under a third due to tagging.

Elsewhere, poaching accounted for 44% of Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) breaches, with removal or damage to landscape features and encroachment or proliferation of weeds accounting for approximately a quarter each.

The eye in the sky

The vast majority of land eligibility inspections for 2016 were carried out remotely, with 6,515 taking place without a farm visit. A total of 909 took place on a farm visit. The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the Charter of Rights meeting was informed that in some cases a ground inspection merely takes place when cloud cover prevents overhead satellites from obtaining accurate imagery. Just 12% of inspections for BPS and Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) are carried out remotely. However, all inspections on islands are completed on farm.

Remote inspections that incur a penalty have recourse for appeal.

Under cross-compliance inspections, the Beef Data and Genomics Programme had the highest inspection rate, at 5.03%. Cattle, sheep and goats had an inspection rate of 3.01%, while 1,349 had a full cross-compliance inspection.

Overall the total number of inspections for 2016 is 25,038.

Appeals

IFA has recently met the Director of the Appeals Office to outline the importance of ensuring that farmers have recourse to an appeal against any decision made by the Department of Agriculture. Richard Kennedy, deputy president of the IFA, reminded the Minister that there is a commitment in the Programme of Government to review the work of the Appeals Office.