Two out of three farmers believe more training would help improve the environment, biodiversity and water quality on Irish farms.

The results were part of the Department of Agriculture’s public consultation on the new Results-Based Environment Agri-Pilot (REAP), which received over 1,500 responses.

One in three thought further regulation would result in improvements, while almost 40% of respondents thought further industry involvement would help.

Farmers

Of those who took part in the consultation, 80% were farmers, with 49% part-time farmers and 32% full-time farmers.

The remainder came from agricultural advisers, members of NGOs and people employed in the agri-food sector.

Half of those who responded were beef farmers, followed by sheep farmers (14%), dairy farmers (11%) and tillage farmers (2.5%).

Two-thirds of farmers had previously taken part in an agri-environmental scheme, with REPS being the most popular.

The majority of farmers who had taken part in an agri-environmental scheme felt it was beneficial.

The main barriers to farmers taking part in future schemes were identified as a fear of incurring penalties, a lack of clarity on how payments are decided, a lack of understanding of scheme requirements and a lack of environmental understanding.

Training

Just over half of respondents had previously participated in agri-environment training, with the vast majority saying it helped them recognise and understand environmental issues on their farm.

However, 70% of survey respondents felt there was limited awareness among Irish farmers of the value of environmental, biodiversity, and ecosystems on their farms.

Changing farmer attitudes and incentivising them to incorporate environmental measures were identified as the two most effective ways to achieve improvements on farms.

REAP

On REAP, almost all respondents said the maintenance of existing farm environmental features should be prioritised, with a smaller percentage calling for the creation of new features.

These feelings are reflected in the pilot scheme, with the majority of funds being channelled to enhancing existing features and some money allocated to creating new ones.

Biodiversity loss, water quality and soil health were identified as the three most important issues the pilot should address, with climate mitigation and air quality ranked much lower.