The establishment deadline for the 2024 winter bird food crop under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) has been extended by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
The final date for planting the winter bird food crop has been extended to May 31, 2024. However, the deadline for subsequent years will remain on May 15 annually, the DAFM said in a circular issued to advisors.
The extension was granted as prolonged wet weather in recent months has generated difficult ground conditions, allowing only a limited window to carry out any land operations in many parts of the country, the DAFM said.
The winter bird food action aims to provide a tailored food source for farmland birds throughout the autumn and winter, as the scarcity of food during this period generates a “serious challenge” for the survival of many farmland birds.
Winter bird food crop
The minimum area of the winter bird food plot, on sites suitable for this action, is 0.25ha. The participant can establish a number of plots around the farm but the maximum area for payment is 3ha.
There must be a 2m uncultivated/unsown zone between the edge of the crop and the field boundary (hedgerow, stone wall/bank, or stream/drain). This zone is not required where a mandatory buffer already exists for applicable watercourses.
The width of a winter bird food strip can be either 6m or 8m along a field boundary, and only one margin width can be selected across the holding. The minimum continuous length to be delivered is 10m with a maximum length of 2,500m.
Where necessary, the action must be protected from livestock using a fence. Where no fence is required, the boundary of the winter bird food must be clearly identified with visible posts/markers if no natural boundary feature exists.
The winter bird food crop must be established using the following mix:
- At least one or more of these cereals: spring oats/triticale/wheat/barley;
- At least two or more of the following: linseed, oil-seed rape, phacelia,
fodder radish, mustard, spring vetch, lucerne, chicory or birds-foot
trefoil.
The harvesting of the crop is not permitted and must remain in situ until March 1 of the following year. The winter bird food action must remain in the same location for the duration of the contract.
Once the crop is sown, pesticides are not permitted. Only the spot treatment of
noxious and invasive weeds with herbicides is allowed, or if required pre-sowing for
crop establishment.
Fertiliser can be applied up to a maximum of half the fertiliser rate for nitrogen and
phosphorus on spring oats as described in the Statutory Instrument Number 113 of 2022.