Engagement with the European Commission and stakeholders on Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) 2 is ongoing, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has said.
The main objective of GAEC 2 is to protect carbon-rich soils, i.e. peatlands and wetland, however, the actual requirements to be implemented are yet to be decided, the DAFM said.
While the implementation of GAEC 2, under Ireland’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, was foreseen for 2024, this has been deferred until January 1, 2025.
A stakeholder consultation process is currently ongoing. The DAFM is also engaging with those carrying out various research projects aimed at mapping and monitoring peatlands/wetland.
Further information is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2024 to help better identify and map “candidate” peatland/wetland areas, the DAFM confirmed to Agriland.
GAEC 2
Examples of appropriate minimum standards may include “a ban on ploughing, or the use of min till/no till cultivation techniques”, according to Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan.
The delayed implementation is necessary for the establishment of the management system, according to the second amendment to Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027.
This further lead time is required to better define and map these areas to allow for the development of the management systems to implement the standard, the amendment states.
In order to receive CAP supports, farmers must adhere to nine GAEC standards. The European Commission recently announced a partial exemption from the conditionality rule on fallow land.