GLAS 2 Contract Letters are on their Way

The first letters confirming GLAS 2 contracts have arrived with farmers. 

Applications from 7,097 Tier 1 candidates were received and 6,746 of these are being approved immediately, with the balance under review. For Tier 2, a total of 4,198 applications were received and 3,975 of these are being approved immediately, with the balance similarly under review.

All GLAS 2 applications from new entrants to farming in 2015, and from new farm partnerships, are being granted priority access under this round, including applications by Tier 3 candidates. These are applicants who had been unable to apply under GLAS 1, for technical reasons, 

The applications that are under review would include a small number of cases where software or data issues prevented the submission of a complete application. The advisors involved have already been informed of this and provision has been made for these cases to be resubmitted once the technical issues have been resolved. Once this occurs these applicants will be assessed using the same criteria as applied to all other applications.

A further tranche of the Scheme will be launched in the Autumn.

GLAS 2

GLAS 2 will open next week. The Dept. of Agriculture will accept applications for approximately 6 weeks with the scheme expected to close at the end of November. With 13,000 places available (which we expect will be filled) it means that by Christmas almost 40,000 places in GLAS will be taken and only 10,000 or so, approx. 20% left for the third, final and smallest tranche next summer.

 

While the changes to the Low Input Pasture option will have a negative impact for some people, there is no alternative to the scheme as it stands. The priority now is to make the best of what is on offer and secure your payments for the next 5 years.  While some people may be tempted to wait until the final tranche in the hope of squeezing another year out of AEOS but this course of action is a high risk strategy even for Tier 1 applicants. Leaving GLAS until the last and smallest tranche means that there is no guarantee that you will get in at all. Lets look at an example of a farmer in this position.

 

AEOS 3 payment of €4,000.

Potential GLAS payment of €5,000

 

This farmer applied for AEOS in Nov 2012 and received a start date for that scheme in May 2013. He has already received a part payment for 2013, a full payment for 2014 and will soon receive a full payment for 2015. In total he has received €10,660 in AEOS. If he remains in that scheme he can draw down a further €12,000 before his contract ends in 2018. However this will be at the cost of missing out on GLAS altogether, a loss of €25,000. Even after factoring in the costs associated with applying for GLAS the farmer is still down €12,000.

 

Now, what if he decides to stick it out in AEOS for the moment and apply for GLAS in the summer of 2016. In theory this allows him to draw down a further €4,000 from AEOS and then €25,000 from GLAS, a total of €29,000. However this additional payment also carries a risk, if he does not get accepted into GLAS next summer he is down €12,000. In effect he is staking €12,000 on a bet, if he is lucky he wins €4,000, if he is not so lucky he loses the €12,000 stake. 

 

Remember as well that GLAS on commonage farms is about much more than just the GLAS payment. It is about securing the eligibility of the entire commonage for all schemes. Participating in the scheme, working with your commonage advisor and fellow farmers helps secure your payments across all schemes into the future. Is taking a chance on this for the sake of €4,000 really a good idea?

GLAS Tranche 2

GLAS is set to reopen at the end of September. The second tranche will be heavily weighted towards Tier 1, i.e. Commonage, SAC/SPA, Rare breeds and organic farmers. It is expected that a total of 10,000 places will be available with the application period set to close in mid November.

Very important decisions must be made by commonage and SAC/ SPA farmers in the coming weeks. Foremost of these is to review the issue of staying in AEOS for another year or applying for GLAS in this round. While this is a judgement call that can only be made by the individual farmer, you should bare the following in mind.

1) GLAS will have 50,000 participants when the scheme is full.

2) Approx. 26,000 of these places have already been filled.

3) Another 10,000 will be filled by the end of the year.

There are approx. 15,000 farmers with commonage and around 20,000 with SAC/SPA land (considerable overlap between the two groups). Considering that about 9,000 joined up in the first tranche, there would appear to be room to accommodate all remaining tier 1 farmers within the remaining tranches of the GLAS scheme. That said delaying entry until the third tranche is effectively putting all your eggs into one basket, if anything goes wrong at that stage there is very little room for recovery. Such a strategy is also based on the assumption that there will be no follow up scheme to GLAS in the next round of the CAP. This is a very pessimistic outlook to hold. The EU has for decades now been very supportive of agri-environment measures and a complete u turn is very unlikely. And without being too fatalistic, none of us can be sure if we will be around to worry about what might happen in 2020.

The decision is ultimately a personal one but all tier 1 farmers should contact their advisor as soon as possible. Planners will be under incredible pressure this Autumn. GLAS applications, Commonage Management Planning and the soil sampling for first tranche applicants will make the advisors time very precious indeed. The long and the short of it is that if you leave contacting an advisor until November you will probably not get an application in.

I know some people will want to leave the decision about joining GLAS until they see what the commonage management plan looks like. While this may seem prudent, it may not be in the farmers best interests. The reason for this is two fold. First, there is no chance of the Commonage Management Plans being ready in time. Secondly and of even greater significance, the Commonage advisor will build the plan after consulting with the farmers who have signed up, the plan revolves around these farmers and reflects their concerns and aspirations. If you have not signed up you will not be part of this process, your voice will not be heard and you will have to take what you get when you do eventually join. No one can pretend that this is in their interest. Get in touch with your commonage advisor, sign up to the process and get involved. The alternative is to let others make the decisions for you. Remember there will not be a whole lot of sympathy out there for those who complain that the CMP does not suit them when they stayed silent when the plan was being prepared.

GLAS Second Tranche to open in the Autumn

The Minister for Agriculture has announced that the second tranche of GLAS will open in the Autumn. Places for 10,000 farmers will be made available with start dates of Jan 1st 2016.

He has also allowed extra time for the completion of Commonage Management Plans for first tranche applicants. The closing date for this task has now been extended to August 31st instead of the previously announced date of July 3rd. This is only reflecting the common sense argument that we in yourcommonage.ie and others have been expressing over the past month.

The later date will have no impact on the anticipated start date of Oct 1st for first tranche applicants. Although it is still necessary for farmers to apply for GLAS before May 22nd to make the cut for the first tranche. Applying in the first round offers a part payment for 2015 (which should cover most if not all of the initial transaction costs) and a 63 month contract as opposed to the 60 month contract available to those who join in the second tranche. The part payment for 2015 not only adds extra value to the GLAS contract but the earlier payment also offers cash flow benefits in a situation where a large part of the costs are front loaded, this could be of value on farms that are not in an AEOS contract. That said; the second round will be of particular interest to those farmers who may have to split parcels on their BPS applications in order to maximise their GLAS payment. New applicants and those who have recently acquired extra land would also benefit.

The short gap between the first and second tranche will have implications for those who have decided to sit out the first tranche while GLAS and the Commonage Management Plan system bed in. While it remains to be seen how many farmers will be accepted in the first round, the filling of 10,000 additional places before years end means that commonage farmers will have to reassess their own position. A repeat of what we have seen in tranche 1 with most of the places going to tier 3 applicants would be a disaster for hill farming.

Farmers should not delay seeking the services of a commonage advisor. Even if you are going to wait until the second tranche, get involved early, have your say from the start, most importantly do not wait till GLAS 2 opens for business.  It is probable that the Dept. of Agriculture will insist on CMP's for the second tranche being submitted before the end of the year. For this reason, even a September start for GLAS 2 would in all likelihood only give 3-3.5 months for the completion of commonage plans.  Time will be short and for those who leave it too late there is no guarantee that the CMP will be ready in time. Shortening days and inclement weather will slow the production of Commonage plans as the Autumn progresses. Remember also that Commonage Advisors will still face a mammoth task while also being engaged in producing new GLAS applications along with Nutrient Management Plans for first tranche applicants. They will be busy.  

Begin the process now, seek out a commonage planner, one with experience and a track record. Remember you can have one planner advise you on farm level issues while dealing with a different person on commonage issues, in fact for most people this will be the norm.

For farmers on commonages where an advisor will be appointed in the coming weeks, you will soon receive a letter from the Dept. of Agriculture informing you of the approved advisor for your hill. Even if you are not a first tranche applicant, engage with the planner early, contribute to the process from the beginning and have your say on the future management of the commonage.

For more information on the commonage management planning process call

Fergal Monaghan at (091) 738900 or (087) 2356668 or e mail yourcommonage@gmail.com