Too many column inches have been dedicated over recent weeks to the closing dates for the myriad farming schemes recently announced by agriculture minister, Charlie McConalogue and his departmental team.
It’s all very confusing. I don’t care how and when a various scheme is implemented. But, surely, it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility to have the same closing date agreed for each measure.
And for me this should be the same date on which annual applications for the single farm payment (Basic Payment Scheme) close, i.e., normally in mid-May.
We are now at a stage when all farm-related applications can be submitted online. Gone are the days when farmers and/or their advisors are slaving over reams of paper striving to make the post with a ‘chunky’ application form.
Absolutely not; all of this can now be done in the comfort of one’s own kitchen at any time of the day or night with a cup of tea or coffee at hand.
Closing dates
I also believe that the fixing of a single application date will help focus farmers’ minds on the schemes that are of direct interest to them at a specific time of the year.
Dare I suggest that the parallel of studying for exams is an apt one to draw upon in this context.
No doubt, those that disagree with this approach will try to point out that setting a single application date for all schemes will overload the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) systems.
But, in truth, this argument does not hold up. Not every farmer milks cows, not every farmer grows crops and not every farmer keeps sheep. Besides, an application date has no bearing on when money will actually be paid out for a specific scheme.
Some are more complex than others; some require on-farm inspections and some require the applicants to purchase equipment prior to grants being paid out. All of this can take up differing periods of time, depending on a specific application.
But, significantly, none of these requirements are formally linked back to an application date. Meanwhile, farmers can push ahead with the work they need to get on with.
The recent agreement of Ireland’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan makes the suggestion of a common application date for all schemes all the more relevant.
A structured funding mechanism has been agreed between Brussels and Dublin, where the future of Irish agriculture is concerned.
So why not bring a degree of even greater certainty to bear within the farming sector by having a common application date for all relevant schemes?