Farmers were told to ensure they have geo-tagged photos to show evidence of existing drainage whether they were old stone, tile or plastic drainage pipes, at a west Cork IFA meeting on Tuesday.

Restrictions on draining land as part of the GAEC 2 conditionality on peat soils was discussed at the meeting in Dunmanway.

Significant areas, particularly in the western part of the region, contain a lot of peat soils and those attending heard that maintenance is permitted on existing drains once they are not lengthened or deepened.

Addressing the meeting, Michael Moloney of the Department of Agriculture said no additional barriers are being put in place other than existing regulation.

“Previously undrained land is bound is by existing planning guidelines. Maintenance on existing drains is allowed as part of GAEC 2 but they can’t be made deeper or longer. There are no additional actions for a farmer and they can continue to farm as normal.”

There were concerns from the floor that this was another designation on land but the majority of questions centred around the presence of existing drains.

The meeting also heard that if more than 50% of a LPIS parcel is classed as peat soil then all the parcels will be designated as peat soil.

In the case of larger parcels with some mixed mineral and peat soils, farmers can divide them into different parcels if there is an existing physical feature such as a stone wall or hedgerow present.