More than 1,000 submissions have been received by the Department of Agriculture in response to its consultation on a pilot agri-environmental scheme, dubbed “REPS 2”.

The consultation opened at the end of January and has drawn significant feedback from farmers and other stakeholders. It will close for submissions on Friday 26 February.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said: “I think this is an exciting opportunity for all farmers to influence and put their stamp on how this new pilot programme will look and I am urging all farmers to log-on to the Department’s website and fill out of the survey from there.”

It will be used to test a results-based approach to agri-environmental schemes at a national level ahead of a wider roll-out in the next CAP.