The specification for straining and intermediate posts suitable for fencing measures in the wider level of the Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS) requires manufacturers to indicate that the posts have a 15-year minimum life.

This has narrowed down options and increased costs for farmers as agricultural merchants have indicated that posts made from locally grown timber do not come with any such guarantee.

Merchants have said that demand is increasing for pine posts imported from northern Europe. These posts are dried and treated with a non-staining preservative and will be guaranteed for 15 years. Compared with a standard intermediate post, the posts are around £0.70 more expensive, with prices starting from £2.50 (plus VAT) and strainers costing from £12 (plus VAT).

Other posts suitable for EFS that are imported from Sweden and treated with creosote are guaranteed for 25 years. Prices start from £5.50 (plus VAT) for intermediate posts and £17 (plus VAT) for strainers.

Cheaper creosoted posts are also available but may not meet the minimum EFS requirement of a 75mm top diameter and 1.83m length.

The scheme requires either woven wire and three strands of line wire or else five strands of line wire for stock-proof fencing.

Suppliers also state that the cost of wire is set to increase by around 10% when new stocks are bought in.

The EFS wider level grant rate for hedging laying with double fencing is £16.02/m in the first year of the scheme, with no payment in years two to five. The cost of constructing a double fence and planting a hedge varies, and could be higher than the grant rate, although that depends on materials used and the layout of the boundary.

Following a series of information evenings on EFS that were held across NI in February, DAERA has announced that two more meetings are to take place in CAFRE’s Greenmount and Loughry campuses.

Approximately 1,750 farmers attended the 21 meetings, which is probably lower than expected given that the Department is aiming for 2,000 wider-level agreements and 300 higher-level agreements in the first tranche of the scheme.

Applications for the first tranche opened on Monday and will close on 31 March. The Department has said that there is space for around 6,200 individual agreements across several tranches of the £100m EFS.

The two additional information evenings both start at 7pm and will be held in Greenmount on 8 March and in Loughry on 15 March.