Thomas Lyons Farmers in Ireland are being urged to get their paperwork in order as deadlines for applications for schemes under the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) approach. The Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS), the Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) and the Eco-Scheme are all due soon, as are applications for the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme and the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP). Speaking to Agriland, Noel Feeney, president of the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA), said farmers should be patient with their agri-advisor or consultant, who may be dealing with a heavy workload. Farmers should book appointments as soon as possible, and bring all necessary documents, including coloured maps, which will identify land parcels that are part of the farmer’s holding. It is important to study these maps and identify changes since they were measured, such as houses, buildings, hedges or large areas of scrub, all of which will need to be marked on the map.
Farmers who applied to the Agri-Climate Rural Environmental Scheme (ACRES) should have received acceptance correspondence over the past week, Feeney said, and should bring this along to their meeting with their advisor. It is important that farmers understand their land entitlements for the purpose of these applications and the various changes that have come into effect. The previous Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) entitlement is now known as the BISS entitlement, and while the need to have 1ha of eligible area for one entitlement still stands, the value of each one may have shifted. Entitlement holders should have received correspondence from the department outlining what this value is likely to be over the coming years, as well as what the process is for leasing or transferring them.
Applications for the BISS, which covers a number of other schemes, are due on May 15, 2023, with the latest date for amendments without a penalty noted as May 31. The Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) scheme, the Eco-Scheme, the Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers (CIS-YF), the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM), the Protein Aid Scheme (PAS) and the Area for Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme, all come under BISS applications. Farmers will need to highlight which of these that they intend to apply for, and identify which land parcel they will allocate to each scheme.
In relation to Eco-Scheme applications, farmers can qualify for payment in a couple of ways. They can either choose two out of eight agricultural practices, or a single enhanced agricultural practice which must be applied to all eligible hectares. There are two deadlines to take note of this year when it comes to suckler and beef schemes. The department has announced that applications for the National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme must be sent in by May 2, 2023. Meanwhile, applications for the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) must be submitted either by the farmer or an approved FAS advisor by May 22, 2023. Late application payment deductions will be applied at a rate of 1% per day, and applications made more than 25 days late will not be accepted.
Feeney urged farmers not to put the process of leasing and transferring entitlements on the back burner. The online system for leasing and transferring is currently open and will close at midnight on Monday, May 29, 2023. Farmers must take the process seriously, as the DAFM is ramping up the number of compliance inspections carried out, and satellite imagery systems can also flag up issues.
It is important to note that the value of entitlements may have shifted, and farmers should have received correspondence from the department outlining what this value is likely to be over the coming years, as well as what the process is for leasing or transferring them. Farmers should also bring acceptance correspondence from the Agri-Climate Rural Environmental Scheme (ACRES) to their meeting with their advisor.
The new CAP cycle and associated schemes have created a heavy workload for agri-advisors and consultants, and farmers should be patient and book appointments as soon as possible. It is important to study coloured maps identifying land parcels that are part of the farmer’s holding and to identify changes since they were measured, such as houses, buildings, hedges or large areas of scrub, all of which will need to be marked on the map. Farmers must take the process seriously, as the DAFM is ramping up the number of compliance inspections carried out, and satellite imagery systems can also flag up issues.
