DARD consults on GAEC standards
A public consultation on new cross-compliance standards to apply from 2015 on has been launched by Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill.
The main focus of the consultation is on the cross-compliance requirements to maintain land in Good Agricultural and Environment Condition (GAEC). The consultation does not cover Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs), which are a set of European-wide laws outside of the discretion of DARD, and covering issues such as animal identification, animal welfare and food safety.
The main aim of the DARD consultation on GAEC is to achieve a system that is clear to farmers and can be implemented effectively. While there are some superficial changes suggested, the DARD-proposed GAEC standards are broadly similar to what is currently in place. They include measures to protect water quality taken from the current nitrates action programme, and requirements around issues such as overgrazing, poaching damage, heather burning, hedgerow removal and winter feeding sites.
The consultation closes on 30 May and can be found on the DARD website.
Take a close look at LPIS map
David Rankin, chairman of the Agricultural Consultants Association, has reminded farmers completing the 2014 Single Application Form not to assume that the Maximum Eligible Area declared on their latest LPIS map is correct.
“Hard ineligible features, such as buildings, have been deducted to the required 0.01ha on the maps, but this is not the case for other features such as ineligible vegetation or rock which are generally only down to 0.1ha. They might still need to come off,” said Rankin.
He also advised farmers to consider using the online map facility, ‘eMap’. “Farmers taking conacre land can access all the latest field information using ‘eMap’. It is a good way of ensuring your application is correct,” he said.
Farmers who access the online facility will find that they have two options.
They can either go to the ‘eMap’, which is the latest mapping information held by DARD. Alternatively, they can access a PDF version of their farm map which reflects the fields on their 2012 claim.
“A 2014 PDF will shortly be added which shows the fields declared in the farmer’s 2013 SAF,” a DARD spokesperson confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal.
The spokesperson also urged farmers not to assume the maximum eligible area on the map is correct.
“A number of farmers have faced penalties this year as a result of simply assuming it was sufficient to claim the Maximum Eligible Area and it is most important that farmers take care to avoid this risk in 2014. In some of these cases, the entire Single Farm Payment was lost as a result of penalties,” said the spokesperson.
DARD to pay £93,000 for sensing inspections
An external contractor employed by DARD to help with eligibility inspections done by remote sensing in 2013 is to receive £93,115 for their work this year.
The figure was revealed by Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill in a written answer to a question from mid-Ulster MLA Sandra Overend.
The company appointed to undertake the work is the ICON Group based in Dublin. In total, 1,139 inspections were completed by remote sensing in 2013, which equates to over £80 per inspection.
Flat-rate impact on production
Research by economists at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) has suggested that a move to flat-rate CAP payments will have a minimal effect on production from farms in NI.
The research, quoted by Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill in a written answer to west Tyrone MLA Declan McAleer, was originally highlighted in the recent DARD consultation on direct payments. It suggested that a flat-rate payment by 2019 would have the most impact within the local beef sector.
Even here, the impact is minimal, with the research suggesting a 1.5% reduction in cow numbers, mostly occurring in the lowland and Disadvantaged Area.
“These results provide reassurance that production levels are unlikely to change significantly as a result of moving to a flat-rate support regime,” said Minister O’Neill.
SHARING OPTIONS