Dam installation on a midlands farm as part of the FarmPEAT EIP. / FarmPEAT
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The Department of Agriculture has asked peatland experts whether lump sums could be used to woo farmers with drained peat soils into rewetting contracts extending to at least 15 years.
At a meeting in Portlaoise last week, these experts were asked which payment models should be on the table, if a “critical mass” of farmers is to agree to rewetting or extensifying a combined 80,000ha of their lands by 2030.
A “lump sum payment at the beginning of the contract” was among the options discussed to cater for the loss of productive land and reduced farm output.
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The sheer cost of carrying out rewetting works over such an expansive area means that “public funding cannot deliver the target in full – private finance [is] required”.
The discussions at the invite-only meeting heard that groups of neighbouring farmers will need to be encouraged to enter any rewetting scheme brought forward, given the impact rewetting a parcel of land can have on adjoining lands and drains.
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The Department of Agriculture has asked peatland experts whether lump sums could be used to woo farmers with drained peat soils into rewetting contracts extending to at least 15 years.
At a meeting in Portlaoise last week, these experts were asked which payment models should be on the table, if a “critical mass” of farmers is to agree to rewetting or extensifying a combined 80,000ha of their lands by 2030.
A “lump sum payment at the beginning of the contract” was among the options discussed to cater for the loss of productive land and reduced farm output.
The sheer cost of carrying out rewetting works over such an expansive area means that “public funding cannot deliver the target in full – private finance [is] required”.
The discussions at the invite-only meeting heard that groups of neighbouring farmers will need to be encouraged to enter any rewetting scheme brought forward, given the impact rewetting a parcel of land can have on adjoining lands and drains.
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