The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed that 3,165 farmers have received notifications as a result of satellite farm inspections this year.
Under the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Area Monitoring System (AMS) is being used across all EU member states to monitor compliance with farm scheme criteria.
The AMS uses Copernicus Sentinel satellite data, which is gathered automatically every five days, to observe and assess agricultural activities and practices.
The system also uses geotagged photographs produced using the AgriSnap app developed by DAFM to verify declared crops.
These images contain the GPS location co-ordinates of where the photo was captured
The department is monitoring all area based schemes, including the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS), using the AMS in 2024.
DAFM
Parcels monitored by AMS will have colour coded results when presented to scheme applicants.
Green parcels are compliant with the declaration on the applicant’s 2024 BISS application and will be processed for payment.
Yellow parcels require further AMS processing but do not require input from the applicant and will be paid on.
Red parcels indicate that a potential non-compliance has been detected and payment will be withheld until the issue is resolved.
The department said that this may be due to:
- Presence of an ineligible feature, in particular a permanent structure e.g., a house, farm roadway or farm building;
- Difference in crop category (arable land, permanent crop or permanent grassland) declared and AMS finding, such as spring barley declared on 2024 BISS application, but a different crop was predicted by AMS;
- Presence of ineligible land use such as an ineligible crop type for the scheme.
In June 2024, 983 herdowners were notified of the presence of a potential artificial surface as a result of the AMS.
The department told Agriland that 86% of herdowners, or their advisor, replied to the AMS notification by the deadline of 20 June 20, with an acceptance rate of 84%.
An AgriSnap photo was only required for rejection of an artificial surface notification.
140 applicants rejected the AMS finding with 40 of these applicants submitting a supporting AgriSnap photo by the closing date.
The department issued further AMS notifications to 2,182 herdowners on Wednesday (July 10) for the potential presence of incorrect crops and multiple crops.
These notifications also included land parcels with a potential lack of evidence of agricultural activity such as rearing livestock or growing crops or the maintenance of the agricultural area.
These notifications may be responded to until September 3, 2024.
The department said that an AgriSnap photo is required on acceptance or rejection of these AMS notifications.