The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) issued over 5,800 notifications to landowners this year due to potential scheme issues being detected through the Area Monitoring System (AMS).
Under the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the AMS is mandatory across all EU member states to monitor compliance with farm scheme criteria.
The AMS interprets satellite imagery to provide decisions on agricultural activity on all declared land parcels of which there are approximately 1.1 million in Ireland.
The department is monitoring all area based schemes using the AMS this year.
DAFM
In June, the department notified 983 herdowners of the presence of a potential artificial surface as a result of the AMS.
86% of herdowners, or their advisor, replied to the notification by the deadline of June 20, 2024.
DAFM noted that the inclusion of an AgriSnap photo – the department’s geotagged photograph application – 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.
During July and August, the department issued AMS notifications to 4,823 herdowners.
These notifications related to the potential presence of incorrect crops and multiple crops, land parcels with a potential lack of evidence of agricultural activity.
Some also related to the potential lack of evidence of Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) winter bird food where the farmer is in the agri-environmental scheme.
4,474 herdowners or their advisor responded by the deadline of September 3, with 3,400 submitting supporting AgriSnap photos.
In total, 349 herdowners did not reply to the July and August AMS notifications.
AMS
The department said that a further 51 herdowners were issued with AMS notifications on September 5.
These consisted of land parcels with the potential presence of incorrect crops for the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) and Protein Aid Scheme only.
Some 36 herdowners responded by September 23, with 16 submitting supporting AgriSnap photos. 15 herdowners did not reply to this notification.
The department noted that there is no penalty for non-response to an AMS notification.
“Where the AMS determines that a land parcel(s) has not met the area-based eligibility conditions of any scheme applied for, payments may be reduced, and penalties may apply.
“Processing of AMS responses is ongoing, the number of penalties as a result of AMS checks are not available at this time,” a DAFM spokesperson told Agriland.