Changes have been made to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) which have removed the requirement for a farmer to retain 10% of their eligible hectares in an agricultural activity for the purposes of retaining BPS eligibility.

The move has been welcomed by the Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA’s) farm forestry chairperson Vincent Nally.

Commenting on the amendment, Nally said: “This is a very positive development.

It will allow farmers to plant all their land or to lease the land they have not planted and still retain their BPS payment.

The eligibility criteria for the BPS had originally required that farmers who planted part of their holding from 2009 onwards were required to retain at least 10% of the eligible hectares declared in 2008 in an agricultural activity – subject to a minimum area of three hectares – in order to continue to be regarded as an active farmer for the purpose of retaining eligibility for BPS.

The IFA’s farm forestry chairperson outlined that the change “recognises that forestry is a crop like any other crop or enterprise on the farm”.

Concluding, Nally added that the amendment to the BPS eligibility criteria “will remove restrictions under the direct payment system so farmers can optimise income from their land”.