Thursday 30 January 2014

Grazing Agreements, Clarification needed.




Inagh Valley, Co. Galway. Very small areas of enclosed land to support hill flocks, grazing plans will be difficult to put in place and are likely to need fine tuning for some time to get the balance right.

While many aspects of the Dept. of Agriculture's proposals are laudable, they are repeating some of the mistakes that were made in late 2012. It is true that they have moved away from the requirement for a unanimous agreement and are more realistic about the time required to adjust flock sizes, these are important clarifications and are to be welcomed. However the Dept. of Agriculture have still not moved to address several key concerns. These include;

1) How are dormant shareholders to be dealt with? In particular, will the requirement for 80% of shareholders to participate in a grazing agreement include the dormant shareholders? If it does, the process is going nowhere, as on average approx. 1/3 of shareholders are dormant, many of these are not even traceable and others may potentially derail an agreement by demanding a cut of any payments. 
2) How are inactive shareholders going to be treated? How are they even going to be defined? This is potentially an even more difficult issue as many such farmers will insist that they are active in an attempt to hold onto forage area. Others will seek to change their farming system by starting to use the hill again. While this is within their rights, it will complicate the process of reaching an agreement on the commonage.
3) How much time will be available to negotiate agreements? If GLAS is to open in Jan 2015 than time is rapidly running out.
4) How will all of this link into the launch of the GLAS scheme? Are AEOS 2 and 3 farmers with commonage going to find themselves out of a scheme, if agreement is not reached in respect of their commonage in time?
5) Will admission to GLAS be limited to an annual quota or will the scheme remain open until the 50,000 places are filled? Is there a risk that GLAS could be filled before commonage agreements are in place? If it does then many commonage farmers could be permanently excluded from an agri environment scheme.
6) What provision will be made to provide professional assistance to farmers in negotiating an agreement? How will this be paid for? Will it be paid for directly by the farmers or through a voucher system? It should be clear to all concerned, that if the cost is to be left to farmers to pay and the farm advisor to collect, then commonages with large numbers of shareholders such as Achill Island will never be facilitated.
7) The Dept. of Agriculture must appreciate how difficult it will be for an individual farmer to take the initiative to sell this concept to his neighbours, some of whom may be unconvinced of its merits. This is a real barrier to progress, if it is to be overcome than all the other barriers in particular the transaction costs must be fully compensated for and the cash flow implications for all concerned reduced to an absolute minimum..
8) A professional advisor will be required to facilitate an agreement, however this raises very real issues for advisor and farmer alike.  Foremost of these is the associated transaction cost, not surprisingly the advisor will want to be paid and it is unreasonable to expect him to seek payment from each individual shareholder. Such a task may prove impossible and will deter many advisors from getting involved. This is particularly relevant on commonages with very large numbers of shareholders. Imagine the difficulty for an advisor in splitting his fee 100 ways and trying to collect this amount from each shareholder. Then consider the alternative, the difficulty for a farmer, to take it on himself to collect the money from 99 other shareholders to pay the advisor; it won't happen. 

I suggest that as a minimum that Dept. of Agriculture should consider all landowners who did not declare the commonage in 2013 as being dormant. If they want to come back into farming they should be allowed, but they should not be in the calculation of what constitutes the qualified majority needed for a grazing association. The issue with inactive shareholders is more complicated but perhaps one solution is to allow them to claim the basic payment and the ANC payment provided they participate in the grazing agreement but restrict the GLAS payment to active farmers.

As regards the cost of putting a grazing agreement in place, it is clear that the Dept. of Agriculture do not want to get involved in paying farm advisors directly, however they could issue farmers with a voucher to purchase this service from an approved farm advisor. The advisor could be paid by the Dept. of Agriculture on submission of the voucher provided a grazing plan is agreed. The Dept. of Agriculture could then recover this money from future payments due to the farmer. GLAS+ would provide a suitable mechanism for meeting this exceptional item and ensuring that the farmers costs are met. Finally the NPWS could finance the transaction costs for a number of flagship commonages to demonstrate to farmers around the country that progress is possible.

Clarity is needed on all of these issues.  The Dept. of Agriculture must publish a real implementation plan very soon.

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Monday 27 January 2014

Commonage and Agri Environment Schemes


Undergrazed Commonage leading to Purple Moor Grass dominated sward.
Fire Hazard, no winter grazing potential, minimal value to sheep. Can GLAS plans manage this situation?

At the recent Teagasc Hill Sheep conference held in Bantry, Mr Liam Fahey of the Dept. of Agriculture spoke on the subject of the commonages and future agri environment schemes. Management of Commonages and Agri Environment Schemes. In particular he set out the rationale for the grazing agreements that will be a feature of GLAS contracts on commonage farms. He explained the background to the current proposals and how the new approach differs from the implementation of the commonage framework plans. Interestingly he stressed that a grazing agreement and the stock numbers within it applies only to the commonage, it is not a whole farm commitment and that subject to normal GAEC and cross compliance requirements a farmer can keep whatever number of stock he wants on his privately owned land. In addition the new agreement will finally break the last remaining links with the old coupled ewe quota.

There is still no blueprint for the grazing agreement required by the Dept. of Agriculture nor is there any detail on what timescale will be available for drawing up such agreements or on the support that will be available for farmers to assist in this process. Mr Fahey is correct in his assertion that the task of drawing up these agreements will not be easy, however he gave no indication of how long this process would take. The fact is that each commonage is unique and that each agreement will have to be made to measure. It is inevitable that the process will get off to a slow start as it will be a new and unfamiliar program and so adequate time to deliver it is essential although the financing of a number of flagship projects could speed this up considerably. In any case the process must start very soon, certainly no later than early summer this year. If not, than many commonage farmers will find themselves ruled out of GLAS for 2015 due to the absence of a grazing agreement.

We are still unaware of how the Dept. of Agriculture intend the program of developing and negotiating grazing agreements to be financed, one solution may be to use the extra payments allowed for under the provision for GLAS+. The formation of new commonage governance structures at community level certainly qualifies as a "particularly challenging action". I hope that full clarification on what exactly is proposed can be given as soon as possible.

The full transcript of Mr. Fahey's speech at the Teagasc conference follows.


Liam Fahey,
Senior Inspector,
Agri-Environment and Structures Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM)

Introduction

Agri-environment schemes such as REPS and AEOS compensate farmers for income forgone or costs incurred as a result of participating in an agri-environment scheme. REPS was introduced in 1994 and at its peak in 2007, there were 60,000 farmers in REPS. When REPS 4 closed in 2009; there were approximately 30,000 farmers in the scheme. A total of 1,000 of these farmers completed their 5 year contract at the end of 2012 with a further 12,000 completing their contracts in 2013. The vast majority of the remaining 17,000 farmers will have completed their REPS contract by the end of 2014. The average REPS payment in 2013 was €5,400.

In terms of AEOS, there are approximately 20,000 farmers across AEOS 1, 2 and 3. The AEOS 1 scheme started in September 2010, with AEOS 2 commencing in September 2011. AEOS 3 commenced in May 2013. The average AEOS payment in 2013 was €3,200.

Commonage lands form an important part of the farming enterprises of many farmers, particularly along the west coast. They also form an important part of the local environment from the point of view of bio-diversity, wildlife, amenities and economic returns e.g. tourism. There is a substantial risk of land abandonment as under-grazing become more of a problem. Under-grazing leads to an increase in ineligible land under Direct Aid and Agri-Environment Schemes and leads to risk of financial corrections being imposed by the EU Commission. It is vital, therefore, to maintain the commonages in GAEC (Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition), or where there is undergrazing, to return the habitat to GAEC.

The farming of commonages lands has a long tradition in Ireland. It is by its very nature a complex area. In the vast majority of cases, however, commonage shareholders work well together on a cooperative basis. Each year approximately 4.7 million hectares of eligible land is declared by applicants under the Direct Aid and Agri-Environment Schemes. Of that area, in excess of 330,000 hectares of commonage lands are declared – representing 7% of the total area declared. In 2012, almost 15,000 applicants declared commonage lands – equivalent to 11% of scheme applicants.

Commonage lands in Ireland are mainly situated along the western coast, in particular, in Donegal, Mayo, Galway and Kerry. The areas of commonage lands in these counties, as is illustrated below; comprises of almost 71% of the total commonage land declared. (Mayo: 84,000 ha; Kerry: 54,000ha; Donegal: 51,000 ha; Galway: 45,000 ha). Commonage lands include both upland and lowland grazing habitats. However, these lands have been used mainly for the maintenance of sheep flocks. Cattle are also grazed in some commonages as are other animals such as the Kerry Bog Ponies.

The experience to-date since the Single Farm Payment was introduced in 2005 is that there is a growing problem of commonage land being abandoned by farmers. This is not good for the environment, as these areas lose the specific characteristics as natural habitats for flora and fauna. In addition, the creeping ineligibility of these lands under the Single Payment Scheme and other Direct Payment Schemes poses a significant risk to the State in view of the risk of financial corrections being imposed by the European Commission. There was also a need to replace the now outdated and no longer valid Commonage Grazing De-stocking Plans, which were drawn up in the late 1990s to deal with the then over-grazing problem arising from the level of sheep maintained on the hills to maximise farmers' payments under the coupled Ewe Premium Scheme. While overgrazing is still an issue in some known areas, the main problem facing us is the under-grazing of commonages. A variety of reasons have led to a problem with under-grazing:

•Introduction of decoupled payments (SPS) in 2005.
•Age profile of farmers with commonage lands.
•Low market returns – resulting in reduced livestock numbers.
•More attractive returns from off-farm income during the Celtic Tiger era.

Reason for Review

There was an opinion that a number of commonages throughout the country were now reaching a situation where they were undergrazed.
•Sheep prices had improved and there is a renewed demand to increase hill sheep numbers.
•Off-farm employment has decreased significantly with a resultant increased interest by the
younger farmers.
•Requirement under EU Regulations to manage the hills in such a manner as to be
maintained in Good Agriculture Environment Conditions (GAEC).
•Danger of burning where undergrazed has become an issue in recent years.

The objective of the current review of commonages is to ensure:

•That the lands are maintained in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC).
•That the sustainable stocking of all commonage land is achieved.
•Those sheep farmers who may have been destocked in the original CFP can once again increase
sheep numbers subject to NPWS stocking rates for each of the commonages.
•Within a number of years all commonages will continue to be maintained in GAEC, are being
sustainably managed and farmed and are contributing both locally and nationally in terms of the
environment, tourism and biodiversity.

During 2012, DAFM in conjunction with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) engaged with all the main farm organisations on setting out a roadmap to ensure that the approx 400,000 hectares of commonage claimed annually by farmers on their SPS continued to remain eligible for Department Scheme Payments. This was in the context of the National Parks and Wildlife Service updating the stocking levels for all commonages which had a CFP. This involved setting an overall total minimum and total maximum stocking level in ewe equivalents (EE) for each commonage to ensure that the commonage was sustainably grazed and to ensure that it remained eligible for Department Scheme payments. The overall total minimum and maximum EE translates into an individual minimum and maximum based on the number of shares and claimants on the commonage.
The main differences from previous CFP are:

  • The minimum/maximum only applies to the commonage. There is no link with privately owned lands.
  • The historic link with ewe premium quota numbers is broken.

Future Schemes

Future agri-environmental schemes offer the opportunity for claimants with commonage land to receive slightly higher payments than a non – commonage farmer where the land is collectively managed. While not all claimants on the commonage would have to be signed up to the collective management plan, it is proposed a baseline of in the region of 60 – 70% participation would be reasonable. While details on a new agri-environmental scheme within the next RDP have yet to be
finalised, higher payments for commonage land managed with a collective management plan offers an opportunity for active claimants to increase their EE numbers on the commonage over and above their individual minimum and maximum levels once they are within the total minimum and maximum figures for the commonage and are managed in accordance with the collective plan drawn up by the claimants on the commonage.

Issues

While naturally, there will be reservations from both farmers and farm organisations on any
approach towards collective management of commonages as it also means collective responsibility for all actions carried out on the commonage, the alternative is that commonages in some cases continue to be undergrazed. The risk of undergrazing over multiple years is that eventually these commonages will not be considered to be maintained in GAEC ruling them out of Department scheme payments. The Department will be allowing a lead in time to allow farmers to adjust their EE numbers to comply with each claimant's individual minimum and maximum EE figures within the context of the total minimum and maximum EE for the commonage.

Conclusion

The whole purpose of collective management of commonages is to ensure that these commonages continue to remain eligible for Department scheme payments for the benefits of the claimants on the commonages. Taking all of these matters into account, it is the Department's aim is to ensure that a practical solution is reached, which will ensure that the current farmers actively farming these lands are protected; that the land is maintained or returned to GAEC and that the requirements of the governing EU Regulations are met. This can best be achieved by working with the farmers directly managing the lands, relevant State Agencies, the farming organisations and all other interested stakeholders. It will not be an easy task but it is achievable if we all work in a co-operative basis.


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Thursday 23 January 2014

Teagasc Hill Sheep Conference

'Collective commonage land to receive more payments in new RDP'

First published in Agriland.

http://www.agriland.ie/

By Lisa Deeney on January 23, 2014


Future agri-environmental schemes offer the opportunity for claimants with commonage land to receive slightly higher payments than a non-commonage farmer where the land is collectively managed.

This is according to Liam Fahey, senior inspector, in the Agri-Environment and Structures Division, Department of Agriculture who was speaking at yesterday's Teagasc Hill Sheep conference in Bantry, West Cork.

"While not all claimants on the commonage would have to be signed up to the collective management plan, it is proposed a baseline of in the region of 60 to 70 per cent participation would be reasonable," he explained.

While details on a new agri-environmental scheme within the next Rural Development Plan (RDP) has yet to be finalised, higher payments for commonage land managed with a collective management plan offers an opportunity for active claimants to increase their criteria on the commonage over and above their individual minimum and maximum levels, he added.

The Agriculture Department official also spoke on this history of REPS and AEOS.

He explained: "REPS was introduced in 1994 and at its peak in 2007, there were 60,000 farmers in REPS. When REPS 4 closed in 2009; there were approximately 30,000 farmers in the scheme. A total of 1,000 of these farmers completed their five-year contract at the end of 2012 with a further 12,000 completing their contracts in 2013.

"The vast majority of the remaining 17,000 farmers will have completed their REPS contract by the end of 2014. The average REPS payment in 2013 was €5,400 In terms of AEOS, there are approximately 20,000 farmers across AEOS 1, 2 and 3. The AEOS 1 scheme started in September 2010, with AEOS 2 commencing in September 2011. AEOS 3 commenced in May 2013. The average AEOS payment in 2013 was €3,200."

Fahey stressed that commonage lands form an important part of the farming enterprises of many farmers, particularly along the west coast.

"They also form an important part of the local environment from the point of view of bio-diversity, wildlife, amenities and economic returns, for example tourism."

He added that there is a substantial risk of land abandonment as under-grazing become more of a problem.

"Under-grazing leads to an increase in ineligible land under direct aid and agri-environment schemes and leads to risk of financial corrections being imposed by the EU Commission. It is vital, therefore, to maintain the commonages in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC), or where there is under- grazing, to return the habitat to GAEC."

In terms of commonage shareholders, he said the farming of commonages lands has a long tradition in Ireland.

It is by its very nature a complex area, the Agriculture Department official conceded.

"In the vast majority of cases, however, commonage shareholders work well together on a co- operative basis. Each year approximately 4.7 million hectares of eligible land is declared by applicants under the Direct Aid and Agri-Environment Schemes. Of that area, in excess of 330,000 hectares of commonage lands are declared – representing seven of the total area declared. In 2012, almost 15,000 applicants declared commonage lands – equivalent to 11 per cent of scheme applicants."

He also cautioned that the experience to-date since the Single Farm Payment was introduced in 2005 is that there is a growing problem of commonage land being abandoned by farmers. "This is not good for the environment, as these areas lose the specific characteristics as natural habitats for flora and fauna."

In addition, he noted that the creeping ineligibility of these lands under the Single Payment Scheme and other Direct Payment Schemes poses a significant risk to the State in view of the risk of financial corrections being imposed by the European Commission.

"There was also a need to replace the now outdated and no longer valid Commonage Grazing De-stocking Plans, which were drawn up in the late 1990s to deal with the then over-grazing problem arising from the level of sheep maintained on the hills to maximise farmers' payments under the coupled Ewe Premium Scheme. While over- grazing is still an issue in some known areas, the main problem facing us is the under-grazing of commonages."

Monday 20 January 2014

Ministers Coveney's Plans for Commonages.

Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine "if minimum-maximum figures are available for commonage (details supplied) as per the commonage reviews; and if he will supply same".

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Simon Coveney replied;

"The Deputy will be aware that the discussions on the management and grazing of commonages have been ongoing for some time. This is a complex matter in view of the involvement of a number of applicants claiming the same lands, the need to respect the traditional farming and environmental practices and the requirement to maintain the lands in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition. Following the completion of the CAP Reform negotiations and the finalisation of the more detailed rules for the implementation of the Reform in relation to Pillar 1 and Pillar 11 Schemes, I am now in a better position to move this process forward.

My intention is to shortly set out proposals on how the matter can best be progressed. My overall objectives are to ensure that farmers farming these lands are protected, that the environmental benefit from the point of view of bio-diversity, wildlife, etc. is maintained or restored and those that benefit from payments on the lands fully meet the requirements of the governing EU Regulations. Initially, my Department intends to write to all claimants of commonage lands in Ireland detailing the outline of the approach to be pursued. In view of the complexity of the matter, my intention is to involve all stakeholders in this process and I shall be making further announcements on this matter in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, it would be inappropriate to comment on the activity required for any individual commonage".

From this response it would seem that commonage farmers can expect a letter from the Dept. of Agriculture in the coming weeks. This will describe the approach that the Dept. of Agriculture intends to take. After a long halt it seems that things are moving quite quickly now, with the publication of the RDP last week and now this announcement from the Minister. I would be surprised if the Dept of Agriculture do not expand further on this matter at the Teagasc Hill Sheep conference in Bantry later this week.

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Proposed New Agri Environment Scheme

Recent developments mean that some of the information in this post is out of date. See our post on GLAS, the new agri-environment scheme dated 8/7/14 for the more up to date position.

 

 

GLAS – How will it work?

By on January 15, 2014


first published by in Agriland on Jan 15 2014


https://www.agriland.ie/


The acronym GLAS stands for Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme. The new initiative ties in with the green vision for Irish agriculture as contained in Food Harvest 2020 and as promoted by Bord Bia in the Origin Green campaign.


The scheme is green as it preserves Ireland’s traditional hay meadows and  low input pastures; low-carbon as it retains the carbon stocks in soil through margins and habitat preservation and practices such as minimum tillage and agri-environment as it promotes agricultural actions which enhance the rural environment.


According to the consultation document published by the Government yesterday, relevant rural development priorities  for GLAS include restoring, preserving and enhancing ecosystems.
Promoting resource efficiency and supporting the shift towards a low carbon and climate resilient economy are other key priorities, as is knowledge transfer and innovation.


According to the Department of Agriculture, the inclusion of an agri-environment climate measure is compulsory under the rural  development regulation. The proposed scheme will deliver overarching benefits in terms of the rural environment whilst addressing the issues of climate change mitigation, water quality and the preservation of priority habitats and species.


Courtesy of its EU obligations, Irish agriculture must meet the twin objectives of environmental sustainability and productivity gains as set out in Food Harvest 2020 in the years ahead. In order to contribute to the mitigation of the environmental impacts of Food Harvest 2020, GLAS has been designed to achieve the delivery of targeted environmental advice and best practice at farm level. It aims to work within the framework for environmental sustainability as set down by key EU Directives and national and international targets. These are: the EU Climate Change and Renewable Energy Package and the Kyoto Protocol; the Water Framework Directive, the Groundwater Directive and the Nitrates’ Directive; the Habitats Directive, the Birds Directive and the European target of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2020.


With regard to its envisaged structure, the proposed minimum contract under GLAS will be five years. Payments for Natura sites are included in the general scheme under specific actions (Farmland Habitat Conservation,  Conservation of Bird Species, Uplands Conservation). All actions must go beyond the baseline for the Single Payment Scheme.


So what are the core requirements for GLAS?
In the first instance all farmers in the Scheme must comply with a number of core requirements. These aim to ensure that farmers have an enhanced level of environmental knowledge, evidenced by records kept of actions delivered and underpinned by a plan for nutrient resource efficiency on their holding:


In the first instance,  A Farm Advisory Service (FAS) approved agricultural planner must prepare the GLAS application.  A Nutrient Management Plan for the whole farm must be in place before payment issues.  Knowledge Transfer by means of a training course for specific actions complemented by on-line demonstrations/advice on good environmental practices must be undertaken.  There wil also be a record keeping obligation.


A two-tier entry mechanism is envisaged for GLAS . In Tier 1 priority will be given to farmers who choose at least one action from a Priority list in order to join the scheme.  Some of these actions will be mandatory for farms in certain locations: e.g. farms with watercourses must choose the protection of watercourses action.  Those in freshwater pearl mussel areas must address that issue. The ‘Uplands Conservation’ action will require that farmers form a grazing association and apply as a collective, with at least 80% of the farmers on the commonage signing up.


Once all places under Tier 1 have been filled, and if there is capacity, a selection process  will be used to allow other farmers who have chosen actions from the General list to join  the Scheme. The selection process will apply weightings in terms of environmental benefit  to actions and a scoring system will be used to allocate places.


Farmers can choose additional actions from the Priority list to bring their payment to the maximum of €5,000. Planners will be required to advise  farmers to choose actions most suitable for their farms and which deliver the greatest  environmental dividend. New actions specifically for tillage farmers have been included in order to encourage uptake and to increase the number of climate change options.

Publication of the National Peatlands Strategy




The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has announced the publication of the National Peatlands Strategy. This document will guide the policies of all Govt. Departments in the management of raised bogs, blanket bogs, heaths and fens throughout the country. It encompasses peatlands that are in state ownership, Bord na Mona bogs, privately owned land and commonage. The approach that will be taken in respect of both SAC/ NHA designated sites and undesignated peatlands are dealt with in the document. The strategy and associated documents can be accessed by following the link below.


http://www.ahg.gov.ie/en/PressReleases/2014/January2014PressReleases/htmltext,17366,en.html





CAP Reform

Coveney Announces Support of more than €12.5 billion for the Agriculture Sector.

The full text of the Minister for Agriculture press release is shown below. The notes provided to media editors are available through a link at the bottom of the page.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, today announced the allocation of more than €12.5 billion in Common Agricultural Policy and exchequer funding to the agriculture sector in the period to 2020.

Speaking at the CAP announcement the Taoiseach said "Getting all parts of Ireland working again remains the Government's top priority. Economic recovery has to be felt by all regions across Ireland. For this reason I'm delighted to welcome the agreement of a new draft Rural Development Programme for Ireland as a part of the Common Agricultural Policy's €12.5 billion investment in Irish agriculture. The Rural Development Programme will see more on farm investment as we grow our indigenous food and drink industry to new heights. At a time of scarce resources this represents the Government's strong commitment to job creation and investment in our rural communities."

Minister Coveney said: "Today marks a further landmark day in what is an unprecedentedly exciting period for the agriculture sector and the agri-food industry in Ireland. In addition to the €8.5 billion in EU funding that will be paid in direct payments to farmers in the period up to 2020, I am delighted to announce that €1.9 billion in national funding will be added to the €2.2 billion EU funding already secured for expenditure on rural development. It brings the total funding for the sector over the period to more than €12.5 billion. This represents a very significant, strategic financial investment in the agri-food sector, and comes on top of the large commercial investments that have been made by major players in the sector in recent times and the very positive news from Bord Bia on the continuing rise in the value of agri-food exports in 2013."

Minister of State Tom Hayes emphasised the importance of ensuring that this level of funding is spent effectively: "It must be done in a forward-looking way that will help the sector to achieve its full potential by supporting innovation and improving competitiveness. Only in this manner can we ensure that we give ourselves the best possible chance to achieve the objectives agreed for the industry in the Food Harvest 2020 strategy."

Minister Coveney developed this point further, recalling that, throughout the CAP reform process, his efforts have been informed by the need to ensure that the agriculture sector can grow in a competitive and sustainable manner: "The focus for me is consistently on the need to achieve smart, green growth, as envisaged in Food Harvest 2020. We need to be smart about what we do so that we can become more efficient and more competitive, and we need to do it in a way that is sustainable from an environmental and climate viewpoint. The package of measures I am announcing today provides practical, targeted support that will help the sector to achieve its ambitions while meeting its climate change responsibilities."

Direct Payments

The Minister announced that, following extensive consultations with stakeholders on the structure of the new direct payments system, he has decided that Ireland should implement the so-called 'partial convergence' model. Under this approach, payments will move part of the way towards a national average rather than to the uniform payment also provided for under the CAP reform agreement. By opting for this approach, he is ensuring that the direct payments system is made fairer and more equitable while at the same time ensuring that the level of redistribution of payments between farmers is not of a scale that could jeopardise the achievement of the Food Harvest 2020 objectives.

The Minister said: "During the CAP reform negotiations I argued very strongly for Member States to be given the flexibility to tailor the reform outcome to their own farming circumstances. I am delighted now to be able to take what I believe to be full advantage of this flexibility. There will be significant transfers given that all entitlements must be valued at 60% of the national average entitlement value by 2019. However, I think I have struck the right balance between making the system fairer and supporting the sustainable development of the sector."

Young Farmers

The Minister also took the opportunity to highlight the ongoing efforts to encourage the participation of young farmers in agriculture. Following consultation with stakeholders, he had decided to use the provisions of the CAP reform agreement as follows:

the full 2% of the national ceiling will be allocated to young farmers, providing for a 25% 'top-up' on direct payments on up to 50 hectares for farmers under 40 years of age (worth more than €16,000 over the period where payment is made on the maximum area for the full five years of the scheme),
additional, educational criteria will ensure payments are made to genuine young farmers, in addition, young farmers will be prioritised in the allocation of payment entitlements from the national reserve.
These direct payments measures will be complemented by further support under the Rural Development Programme, where a separate strand of the support for on-farm capital investment will be ring-fenced for young farmers at a higher rate of aid intensity of 60%.

The Minister said: "It is vital that we do everything we can to encourage young people to take up a career in farming if the innovation and new ideas required to generate the smart, green growth envisaged under Food Harvest 2020 are to be realised. I have previously stated my strong commitment to action in this area, and am delighted to be able to introduce a range of measures across the direct payments regime and Rural Development Programme that I believe will attract and support young farmers."

Rural Development Programme

The Minister emphasised that the priority in deciding how the Rural Development Programme would be structured was the need to ensure an effective contribution to the achievement of the Food Harvest 2020 objectives in a way that would complement the direct payments regime. He was pleased to be able to confirm the available funding of €1.9 billion at this point, which has allowed him to give an outline of the proposed new measures to be included in the Programme. These will be discussed in further detail with the stakeholders over the coming weeks before the Programme is finalised and submitted to the Commission for approval.

The Minister said: "We must ensure that all of the resources available to us are targeted effectively and that they add strategic value. In the case of rural development funding, this means making sure that the money spent enhances the overall competitiveness of the agri-food sector, ensures a more balanced development of rural areas, and meets environmental and sustainability challenges."

The Minister referred in more detail to the main areas to be targeted (in addition to young farmers as mentioned previously):
  • a substantial new agri-environment/climate scheme (GLAS), which will build on the progress made under REPS and AEOS. This will provide for a maximum payment of €5,000 for up to 50,000 farmers, and a further payment of up to €2,000 for a limited number of farmers who take on particularly challenging actions,
  • continued strong support for disadvantaged areas (now Areas of Natural Constraint), to the tune of about €195 million per year,
  • incentives for on-farm capital investment, including support for the expansion of the dairy sector following the abolition of milk quotas in 2015,
  • knowledge transfer and innovation measures, aimed at underpinning farm viability, sustainability and growth through the adoption of best practice and innovative solutions, and
  • a new beef data and genomics measure worth up to €52 million per year aimed at improving the genetic quality of the beef herd.
Sectoral Impacts

Summarising briefly the effects on individual sectors, the Minister first of all pointed out that "farmers in all sectors will benefit from the changes I am making to the direct payments regime, as well as from the measures under the Rural Development Programme." He also noted that the allocation of capital investment funding will be phased over the 2014-2020 period in line with the requirements of measure design and budgetary requirements.

The following are the main points which demonstrate the more strategic thinking being adopted. Further details are outlined in the Notes for Editors.

Beef

While there will be a dividend for beef production arising from dairy expansion, the Minister said that "it is critically important to recognise the specialist beef breeding sector as the seed bed for Ireland's high quality indigenous beef industry. Public support for this vital sector must focus on increasing the value of its contribution to the economy, but also on addressing the key vulnerability of relatively poor efficiency and profitability at farm level." This will be achieved through a combination of building on existing supports and adopting a more strategic approach, as exemplified by the following:
  • the new beef data and genomics scheme (payment of €80 per calf),
  • knowledge transfer measures that will improve key skills needed at farm level,
  • the GLAS environmental scheme, payments for farmers in Areas of Natural Constraint and measures to encourage collaborative farming, which will especially benefit suckler farmers,
  • the targeted advisory measure on animal health and welfare, and
  • beef quality schemes to assist marketing of local products through EU programmes.
Dairy

The Minister said that "with milk quotas to be abolished in 2015, significant investment will be required at farm level to manage the additional milk volumes targeted in Food Harvest 2020." The Rural Development Programme will therefore support the sector through the following measures:
  • support for capital investment for dairy equipment, including targeted support for young farmers setting up for the first time, will be a priority in the initial phase,
  • knowledge transfer measures will be prioritised for dairy expanders and new entrants,
  • targeted advisory service on animal health and welfare,
  • support to partly offset the start up costs of approved collaborative farming arrangements.
Sheep

The Minister pointed out that "with export values in 2013 exceeding €220 million, support for this vital sector is maintained in the overall CAP package." He highlighted the following:
  • the €13 million Grassland Sheep Scheme is subsumed into the baseline Single Farm Payments figure for sheep farmers,
  • knowledge transfer measures will help to improve efficiency and profitability in sheep production,
  • the targeted advisory measure on animal health and welfare, support for collaborative farming arrangements and lamb quality schemes,
  • the new GLAS environmental scheme and payments for farmers in Areas of Natural Constraint, will be of substantial benefit to sheep farmers,
  • sheep farmers in particular will benefit from the redistribution of direct payments.

Pigs and Poultry

Capital investment support will continue to be made available under the new Programme, subject to the phasing decisions made following the forthcoming consultations with stakeholders.

Arable

Investment support will be made available for slurry storage on cereals farms.
A new incentivised support programme for the protein sector will be introduced.

Artisan/Food SMEs

A new Artisan Food Cooperation Scheme, comprised of annual grant support to help artisan food producers to improve and validate production quality, and improve the awareness and marketability of local and niche category products.

Island Communities

The Department is actively exploring mechanisms to support island farming. Additional support for island communities is important given their dependence on the agriculture sector, and given the particular constraints and difficulties associated with island farming.

Concluding, the Minister said: "In short, I believe the range of measures I have decided upon under the direct payments regime and the Rural Development Programme for the period to 2020 provide a sound basis for the sustainable development of the agriculture sector and give it the best possible chance of achieving all of the objectives set out in the Food Harvest 2020 strategy. I look forward to the sector exploiting its potential to the full over the next number of years, while at the same time continuing to make a significant contribution to Ireland's economic recovery."


Editors Notes

http://agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/press/pressreleases/2014/NOTESFOREDITORS140114.doc

Thursday 9 January 2014

Heritage Council Proposal for objective led Agri -Environment Scheme

The Heritage Council have recently published their proposal for an objective led scheme for uplands and certain other key habitat types. The proposal was produced by Patrick McGurn of EFNCP (European Forum for Nature Conservation and Pastoralism) and Patrick McGurn of Sligo IT. Patrick has been done a lot of work in developing the High Nature Value concept for agri environment in Ireland and played a key role in establishing the AranLife project. James Moran was centrally involved in the development of the Burren Farming for Conservation Project and has demonstrated remarkable initiative in focussing attention onto commonage specific issues.

This publication sets out fully the ideas that James outlined at the IFA sponsored Hill Farming Forum held in Tuam in September last year. It is a well thought out proposal that could serve as the basis of a new uplands agri environment scheme. It is vital that a future uplands scheme is flexible and site specific and as the authors have pointed out this does not necessarily mean complex and difficult to administer. The alternative which should be resisted at all costs is a rigid AEOS type scheme that attempts to encompass all commonages in a one size fits all straightjacket.

The full report can be downloaded through the following link.

http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/wildlife/news/view-article/article/heritage-council-urges-new-approach-to-agri-environment-programme/?L=yxwqqhpzuuasnvf&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=1146&cHash=28f0e9055a4c0874f02b924ad9af0f7d

Teagasc Hill Sheep Conference

The Teagasc Hill Sheep Conference is to be held in the Westlodge Hotel, Bantry, Co. Cork on the 22nd January. It is a STAP approved National event. The programme is very interesting and should be of value to anyone with an interest in Hill Sheep farming. Of particular relevance to commonages is the attendance at the conference of Mr Liam Fahey from the Dept. of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Mr Fahey has played a central role in highlighting the potential problems that may face the eligibility of commonage lands for direct payments in the future. He is also likely to have a key part to play in the development of a strategy to ensure that commonage land is brought back into GAEC and that future payments can be guaranteed.

I hope that he will be in a position to announce the start of the engagement process with commonage stakeholders at this conference as time to develop an agreed approach is rapidly running out. The operating programmes for the next RDP will be agreed with the EU Commission by the end of the summer. If a workable commonage solution is not in place by then it will be too late. This solution will not fall into place overnight and if there is to be any chance of success it must start this month.

You can download the flyer for this event from the following link.

http://www.teagasc.ie/events/2014/Hill%20sheep%20flyer%20web.pdf