How does it differ from original GLAS tranches?
GLAS (Green, low carbon, agri-environmental scheme) III is very similar to the second tranche of GLAS. The action list remains identical, with the only change being two additions to the action for twite (bird protection).
How many spaces are available?
A total of 38,000 people applied in the first two tranches of the scheme. The overall target for participation in GLAS is 50,000, leaving an allocation of 12,000 for the third tranche.
How to apply
All applications for the third tranche of GLAS have to be made through a GLAS advisor. This was the case in the first two tranches as well. The online application system is now available for GLAS III.
However, the system will only allow for the preparation, saving and amending of applications currently.
The submit button is not activated yet, but the Department will notify planners when this is the case. The application system will remain open for six weeks, closing at 17.30 on Thursday 15 December 2016.
Payment rate
The maximum payment a farmer can receive through a scheme is €5,000 per annum. Some farmers undertaking particularly challenging actions may qualify for GLAS+ and for a top up payment of up to €2,000 per year, bringing the total to €7,000 pa.
Typically, GLAS+ will apply where the priority environmental assets on the farm require the farmer to deliver a particularly high level of environmental commitment.
Where a farmer undertakes a combination of minimum tillage and catch crops actions and the value of this combination exceeds €5,000, GLAS+ may apply where a minimum of 10ha of each action is
delivered and subject to a maximum of 36ha of each action.
How it works
The scheme is divided into three tiers. Farmers who rank in the tier 1 category will be prioritised entry into the scheme.
Access is then allocated to applicants ranked in tier 2 and tier 3 respectively. This tier system only becomes an issue if the scheme is oversubscribed.
Depending on the actions chosen. nature of the farm and the farming enterprise will determine the tier a farmer will be ranked inside.
Tier 1
This is the most important tier. It covers the priority environmental assets that GLAS has targeted to protect such as:
Farmland habitat (private natura sites). Farmland birds (twite, breeding waders, chough, geese/swans, corncrake, grey partridge, hen harrier).Commonages (50% target participation in GLAS commonage plan).High-status water area.Rare breeds.If any of these priority assets are present on a farm, the farm must choose the GLAS actions that relate to them when applying to the scheme.
Also a beef, sheep or dairy farmer with a whole farm stocking-rate exceeding 140kg livestock manure nitrogen per hectare produced on the holding, or any farmer with more than 30ha of arable crops, can also be considered under tier 1 if they adopt at least one of the four mandatory actions:
Minimum tillage (arable farm >30ha).Catch crops establishment from a sown crop (arable farm >30ha).Low emission slurry spreading (livestock farm >140kgN/ha only).Wild bird cover (livestock farm>140kgN/ha only).Registered organic farmers will qualify for priority access to the scheme under tier 1, by selecting actions appropriate to the farm.
However, if any of the assets listed in the first set of bullet points above apply, they must be chosen first.
Double payments will not be paid out for hectares paid under GLAS and organics.
Tier 2
This is the next most important tier. This tier focuses
on water quality, through protection of predetermined vulnerable watercourses from cattle.
Where a vulnerable water area is not present, an applicant may still qualify for tier 2 access provided one of the following actions is chosen and planned for:
Minimum tillage (arable farm <30ha).Catch crops establishment from a sown crop (arable farm <30ha).Low-emission slurry spreading (livestock farm <140kg N/ha).Wild-bird cover (grassland farm 140kgN/ha).Tier 3
This tier is the lowest-priority ranking. It consists of general actions a farmer who cannot fulfil the criteria for tier 1 and tier 2 can take.
Actions such as the protection of traditional hay meadows, low-input permanent pastures, important landscape features like archaeological monuments, hedgerows and stone-walls, as well as provision of bird, bat and bee nesting facilities and the planting of small groves of native trees.
These actions can be chosen in addition to tier 1 and tier 2 actions or on their own. However, choosing only general actions will not guarantee entry to the scheme. The table shows a list of possible actions farmers can choose in GLAS III and payment rates involved.
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* = Overall maximum payment is €5,000 or €7,000 per GLAS participant per year; 1Must be in a single continuous length: yr = year, m = metre, ha = hectare and m3= cubic metre | 2 When chosen along with minimum tillage on the holding | ^ between THM and LIPP but LIPP cannot exceed 5ha in its own right | 5 (priority area)/4ha (general action) | ^^ 125ha where catch crops is not chosen. Where 36ha of catch crops chosen, maximum payable area of minimum tillage 36ha | ^^^(general action) 1.0ha (priority action)
How does it differ from original GLAS tranches?
GLAS (Green, low carbon, agri-environmental scheme) III is very similar to the second tranche of GLAS. The action list remains identical, with the only change being two additions to the action for twite (bird protection).
How many spaces are available?
A total of 38,000 people applied in the first two tranches of the scheme. The overall target for participation in GLAS is 50,000, leaving an allocation of 12,000 for the third tranche.
How to apply
All applications for the third tranche of GLAS have to be made through a GLAS advisor. This was the case in the first two tranches as well. The online application system is now available for GLAS III.
However, the system will only allow for the preparation, saving and amending of applications currently.
The submit button is not activated yet, but the Department will notify planners when this is the case. The application system will remain open for six weeks, closing at 17.30 on Thursday 15 December 2016.
Payment rate
The maximum payment a farmer can receive through a scheme is €5,000 per annum. Some farmers undertaking particularly challenging actions may qualify for GLAS+ and for a top up payment of up to €2,000 per year, bringing the total to €7,000 pa.
Typically, GLAS+ will apply where the priority environmental assets on the farm require the farmer to deliver a particularly high level of environmental commitment.
Where a farmer undertakes a combination of minimum tillage and catch crops actions and the value of this combination exceeds €5,000, GLAS+ may apply where a minimum of 10ha of each action is
delivered and subject to a maximum of 36ha of each action.
How it works
The scheme is divided into three tiers. Farmers who rank in the tier 1 category will be prioritised entry into the scheme.
Access is then allocated to applicants ranked in tier 2 and tier 3 respectively. This tier system only becomes an issue if the scheme is oversubscribed.
Depending on the actions chosen. nature of the farm and the farming enterprise will determine the tier a farmer will be ranked inside.
Tier 1
This is the most important tier. It covers the priority environmental assets that GLAS has targeted to protect such as:
Farmland habitat (private natura sites). Farmland birds (twite, breeding waders, chough, geese/swans, corncrake, grey partridge, hen harrier).Commonages (50% target participation in GLAS commonage plan).High-status water area.Rare breeds.If any of these priority assets are present on a farm, the farm must choose the GLAS actions that relate to them when applying to the scheme.
Also a beef, sheep or dairy farmer with a whole farm stocking-rate exceeding 140kg livestock manure nitrogen per hectare produced on the holding, or any farmer with more than 30ha of arable crops, can also be considered under tier 1 if they adopt at least one of the four mandatory actions:
Minimum tillage (arable farm >30ha).Catch crops establishment from a sown crop (arable farm >30ha).Low emission slurry spreading (livestock farm >140kgN/ha only).Wild bird cover (livestock farm>140kgN/ha only).Registered organic farmers will qualify for priority access to the scheme under tier 1, by selecting actions appropriate to the farm.
However, if any of the assets listed in the first set of bullet points above apply, they must be chosen first.
Double payments will not be paid out for hectares paid under GLAS and organics.
Tier 2
This is the next most important tier. This tier focuses
on water quality, through protection of predetermined vulnerable watercourses from cattle.
Where a vulnerable water area is not present, an applicant may still qualify for tier 2 access provided one of the following actions is chosen and planned for:
Minimum tillage (arable farm <30ha).Catch crops establishment from a sown crop (arable farm <30ha).Low-emission slurry spreading (livestock farm <140kg N/ha).Wild-bird cover (grassland farm 140kgN/ha).Tier 3
This tier is the lowest-priority ranking. It consists of general actions a farmer who cannot fulfil the criteria for tier 1 and tier 2 can take.
Actions such as the protection of traditional hay meadows, low-input permanent pastures, important landscape features like archaeological monuments, hedgerows and stone-walls, as well as provision of bird, bat and bee nesting facilities and the planting of small groves of native trees.
These actions can be chosen in addition to tier 1 and tier 2 actions or on their own. However, choosing only general actions will not guarantee entry to the scheme. The table shows a list of possible actions farmers can choose in GLAS III and payment rates involved.
![]()
* = Overall maximum payment is €5,000 or €7,000 per GLAS participant per year; 1Must be in a single continuous length: yr = year, m = metre, ha = hectare and m3= cubic metre | 2 When chosen along with minimum tillage on the holding | ^ between THM and LIPP but LIPP cannot exceed 5ha in its own right | 5 (priority area)/4ha (general action) | ^^ 125ha where catch crops is not chosen. Where 36ha of catch crops chosen, maximum payable area of minimum tillage 36ha | ^^^(general action) 1.0ha (priority action)
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