The individual stocking rates for farmers for schemes under the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are now available through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s agfood portal.
Under the CAP Strategic Plan, farmers’ stocking rates will be used to determine eligibility for the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme; the eco-scheme action for extensive livestock production; and the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS).
Farmers may also use their stocking rates to satisfy the definition of ‘active farmer’.
Through agfood, farmers can now see their 2021 and 2022 (to date) stocking rate.
Farmers’ stocking rates in 2022 will be used as the basis for the relevant CAP schemes in 2023.
However, the department said that, in order to provide flexibility for farmers, they will also be permitted to allow farmers to alternatively use 2023 stocking rates.
Farmers should note, though, that using 2023 stocking rates may result in scheme payments not issuing until March of 2024.
The information on agfood displays information on the calculation of the stocking rate based on both the existing coefficients, which will be familiar to participants in the ANC Scheme, and the new livestock coefficients being introduced in 2023.
These coefficients equate single animals to a livestock unit (LU) value.
The new coefficients from 2023 are as follows:
Species LU value Bovines under one year 0.4 Bovines over one year and less than two years 0.7 Male bovines two years and over 1 Heifers two years and over 0.8 Dairy cows 1 Other cows two years and over 0.8 Equine animals 0.8 Sheep and goats 0.1 Deer 0.3
Livestock information used to determine a farmer’s stocking rate is derived from a number of sources, such as the department’s Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system, Sheep Census return information, and stocking information derived from sources such as flock registers or equine passports.
Farmers can satisfy the active farmer check by meeting the minimum stocking rate of 0.1 LU/ha.
The active farmer check it to ensure the person receiving the scheme payments is the person farming the land being claimed.
Farmers who do not satisfy the ‘active farmer’ check based on the minimum stocking rate will also have the opportunity to satisfy the active farmer requirement by carrying out other agricultural activities, such as producing crops, cutting hay or silage, topping, and maintaining landscape features.