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The number of farmers in NI that had penalties applied to area-based payments following a land eligibility inspection more than doubled in 2017.
Figures obtained from DAERA by the Irish Farmers Journal show that 268 inspections led to penalties last year, compared with 127 the year before. The total value of land eligibility penalties across NI came to €138,897 in 2017, with 675ha of land being deducted from claims. This compares with €64,344 worth of penalties across 335ha in 2016.
The number of inspections that were carried out last year increased by 20% to 1,451, but the proportion of checks which resulted in penalties still rose from 10.5% to 18.5%.
In total, 96% of on-the-spot checks (OTSC) were conducted by remote sensing technologies (satellite images or aerial photographs) in 2017, with the remaining 4% being on-farm checks by inspectors.
DAERA declined to comment when asked about the main reasons for the increase in land eligibility fines.
However, reports suggest that farmers claiming on land covered in ineligible rushes was an issue with more claims last year. Rushes are deemed ineligible by DAERA if they are impenetrable and cannot support grazing livestock.
The Department also published advice ahead of the 2018 Single Application stating that ineligible bogland and areas of heather had led to 100% penalties on a “significant number of claims” in recent years.
Heather is classified as eligible if it is accessible to grazing livestock, less than 50cm tall and used for agricultural purposes.
Cross-compliance
In terms of cross-compliance rules, cattle identification and registration remained the biggest problem area for farmers.
Last year, 138 of the 756 farms that were inspected for the statutory management requirement (SMR) relating to cattle tagging and records of movements, births and deaths (SMR7) received penalties.
A breakdown of these penalties shows that 48 farmers were fined 1% of their Basic Payment, 60 lost 3%, 24 were deducted 5% and six farmers had penalties worth over 20% of their payment.
In total 18.3% of farmers that were inspected for SMR7 in 2017 were subsequently fined, down from 25.8% the year before.
The next most common cross-compliance issue last year was with the protection of water against nitrate pollution (SMR1) with 44, or 17.3%, of the farmers inspected receiving fines.
The figures obtained from DAERA only include fines applied because of routine checks, and not other inspections such as checks following a complaint from a member of the public or a suspect pollution incident.
SMR1 covers issues relating to slurry and effluent storage, as well as the spreading of fertiliser and slurry during closed periods.
Permission
In terms of other cross-compliance rules, figures for 2017 show that 6% of the 319 inspections for Good Agricultural and Environment Condition (GAEC) standard 7 resulted in penalties to payments. Breaches of this rule can relate to removing hedges, stonewalls and ditches without permission from DAERA.
Of the farms inspected for compliance with SMR8, which relates to sheep and goat identification and registration, 17 (5.7%) received penalties in 2017.
On enquiry, a DAERA spokesperson said that inspections for the 2018 scheme year are still ongoing.
“We are on course to be able to make advance payments to a proportion of inspected businesses, with the majority [of these inspected businesses] paid during December,” the spokesperson said.
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