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A glitch in the BPS mapping system whereby hedges are appearing multiple times on some tillage applications is creating problems for farm advisers. Some advisers in Meath and Louth have reported inflated figures for ecological focus areas (EFAs) as a result of the same hedge appearing two or three times.
Tillage farmers are required to set aside 5% of their farmed area to EFAs.
As the 15 May deadline for applications approaches, consultants and farmers are under pressure to complete files.
Cyril Darcy, a consultant based in Co Meath, said he had encountered the problem with a number of his clients: “In cases where a client has 10 or 12 fields I can delete them, but it’s a lot of work where they have 80 or 90 fields.”
Darcy said the Department of Agriculture had told him it was working on the issue and that in the meantime applications should be submitted with a note attached flagging the issue.
Biggest risk
He said the biggest risk was for farmers whose EFA had been artificially inflated above the 5% figure and who may not realise when submitting their application.
He said clarification was needed if penalties would apply in such cases.
The easiest way to spot whether an application is affected by the glitch is a drastically increased EFA figure compared to the previous year.
One farmer had an EFA figure as high as 94% as a result of the glitch.
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