Farming organisations have called for Department of Agriculture inspections on farms to be suspended as farmers deal with the challenge of the fodder crisis.

The reason for this is to avoid unnecessary stress and work involved in facilitating these inspections.

Farming is one of the most regulated industries in the country and farmers are subject to more checks and inspections than any other animal owner. So the next time anyone mentions animal welfare issues as a reason for choosing not to eat meat or dairy products, it may be worth informing them that most farmers tend to care for animals better than themselves.

Farmers are subject to on-the-spot inspections without notice and face substantial penalties to ensure that safeguarding animal welfare is being adhered to.

Rules farmers must comply with

In order to receive Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) money and other area-based payments, farmers must comply with various standards and requirements. Many of these are imposed under EU legislation – there are currently 44 pieces of EU legislation governing the BPS scheme.

In a recent High Court case involving this scheme and the legislation, the High Court judge remarked that he had never seen such extensive and complicated rules affecting any other sector.

The booklet of rules farmers received with their BPS application attempts to summarise these rules. It runs to 96 pages. In the event that Irish rules and EU rules are in conflict, the EU rules win out, so technically farmers are obliged to know all about the EU rules too.

Animal welfare penalties

Included in the BPS rules are standards related to cross-compliance, which includes provisions for safeguarding animal welfare. The overriding concern is that animals must be kept free from thirst, hunger and malnutrition, unnecessary pain and suffering, stress and fear and impediments to express normal behaviour.

Inspections involve checks on sufficient number of staff to care for animals, animals inspected regularly (at least once a day) and record-keeping.

For example, records must be kept of any medicinal treatments for at least five years and the number of mortalities on farm for at least three years. Animals must be able to lie down at the same time and freely move about. If animals are kept outdoors, they must be given protection from adverse weather, predators and risks to health and many more requirements.

The Department, as the paying agency, implements a system of on-the-spot controls.

If a farmer is found to be in breach of cross-compliance rules, penalties of between 1% and 5% of the farmer’s payment are imposed.

Where the non-compliance is deemed intentional, a penalty of 20% generally applies. This sanction can be increased to 100% or reduced to 15%, depending on the seriousness of the non-compliance.

If there is a repeat offence within three years, the sanction is trebled, meaning many farmers would lose most of their payment.

Penalties under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013

Animal welfare standards apply regardless of whether a farmer is in receipt of the BPS payment. The Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 came into operation on 6 March 2014.

This legislation authorises officers, including gardaí, Department of Agriculture officials and officers from animal welfare groups such as the ISPCA, to investigate complaints of animal cruelty on farms and in private homes and to impose on-the-spot fines.

Fines of up to €5,000 and/or imprisonment of up to six months can be imposed for less serious offences, while fines of up to €250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years can be imposed for more serious offences.

Can the Department suspend inspections?

The rules for BPS payment provide that Department inspectors have a right to inspect farms at any time during the year with or without prior notice.

It provides that a minimum of 5% of farmers will be selected for inspection under all schemes covered by the BPS application and 1% under cross-compliance. However, 3% must be inspected under animal identification and registration.

In my experience, those farmers with the highest payments and those who have been subject to penalties in previous inspections tend to be the ones selected for inspection. These inspections can happen at any time of the year.

So why inspect farmers when they are under severe pressure with the current fodder crisis and busy spring calving, lambing, etc?

It appears that under EU legislation individual member states are given discretion as to when to carry out the inspections, so the Department seems to have discretion when to carry these out. It is hoped common sense and compassion will prevail.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is intended as a general guide only. While every care is taken to ensure accuracy of information contained in this article, Aisling Meehan, Agricultural Solicitors does not accept responsibility for errors or omissions howsoever arising.