A new Guide to Land Eligibility and a new Explanatory Handbook for Conditionality Requirements have been published by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) today (Monday, May 29).
These two new guides will provide valuable and important information to farmers and advisors on the changes to the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) programme from now to 2027, the DAFM said.
Land eligibility
The booklet on land eligibility is a practical guide to help farmers understand the rules on land eligibility for the various areas-related EU schemes, such as the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) scheme.
Useful explanations, examples and images for relevant subjects like eligible agriculture areas and agricultural activities are provided in the guide, the minister said.
The Guide to Land Eligibility also includes:
- Detailed examples of eligible and beneficial farm features and other features that are considered ineligible;
- Question-and-answers section; and
- Worked examples of the calculation of Eligible Hectare for a number of different land parcels.
Welcoming the publication, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue said:
“The new CAP has brought with it a raft of changes regarding land eligibility which will be of benefit to farmers, and it is important that we give as much guidance as possible to farmers regarding these changes.”
Both documents are published on the DAFM’s website and can be found under the search terms “land eligibility” and “conditionality”.
Conditionality
The Explanatory Handbook for Conditionality Requirements aims to help farmers understand and comply with a set of mandatory requirements and baseline conditions referred to as “Conditionality”.
Conditionality replaces Cross Compliance under the new CAP and whilst many of the requirements remain the same, there are changes, Minister McConalogue said.
Conditionality comprises of 11 Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) and nine Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs). These are:
SMRs
- Protection of waters against pollution caused by phosphates;
- Protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates;
- Conservation of wild birds;
- Conservation of natural habitat and wild flora and fauna;
- Food and feed hygiene;
- Restrictions on the use of substances having hormonal or thyrostatic action and beta-agonists in farm animals;
- Proper and safe us of plant protection products;
- Sustainable use of plant protection products;
- Minimum standards for the protection and welfare of calves;
- Minimum standards for the protection and welfare of pigs;
- Minimum standards for the protection and welfare of animals kept for farming purposes.
GAECs
- Maintenance of permanent grassland (monitored nationally);
- Protecting peatlands and wetlands (from 2024);
- Burning of arable stubble is not allowed (except for plant health reasons);
- Establishment of buffer strips along water courses;
- Tillage management to reduce the risk of soil degradation and erosion;
- Land management practices to limit soil erosion during sensitive periods;
- Crop rotation in arable land (from 2024);
- Minimum share of agricultural area (4%) developed to non-productive areas and features, retention of landscape features, ban on cutting hedges and trees during bird breeding and nesting season, and measures for avoiding invasive plant species;
- Protection of environmentally friendly sensitive permanent grassland in Natura 2000 sites.
CAP beneficiaries must comply with these Conditionality Requirements from 2023 onwards in order to be in full compliance with BISS terms and conditions and other area-based schemes.
By complying with these requirements, the minister said farmers are contributing to Ireland’s overall ambition to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce chemical nitrogen use.
Farmers thus also help to improve nutrient use and efficiency; water and air quality; biodiversity levels and to improve safe food production and upholding strong animal welfare principles, he added.
AMS
Through the Area Monitoring System (AMS), information from sentinel satellites will determine agricultural activity and in a land parcel AMS will monitor land-based CAP schemes.
In 2023 this will include BISS, Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC), Protein Aid, and the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM), the DAFM said.