The average payment made to the almost 500 farmers taking part in the Pearl Mussel Project (PMP) increased to €4,800 this year.

The five-year scheme, which has a €10 million budget, was established in 2018 under the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) scheme.

The results-based project, which is due to finish next year, is focused on eight rivers and the surrounding 40,000ha of farmland in counites Kerry, Galway, Mayo and Donegal.

Dr. Patrick Crushell, PMP manager, told Agriland that 2022 saw the return of in-person meetings with farmers as Covid-19 public health restrictions eased.

“That’s a big positive. Our project is very much involved around farmer engagement. We had a couple of tough years there where we were trying to hold Zoom calls and all the rest of it, so it’s been great to get out to meet the farmers again,” he said.

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Project advisors visited participating farms over the summer to carry out the assessment of habitat which is how individual payments are determined.

“That’s one of the big things with these results-based schemes, monitoring of the progress towards achieving good environmental conditions is very much embedded in the project design.

“While some farmers have gone up an awful lot, others maybe just stayed steady and haven’t really improved that much. But the overall trend is certainly an improvement.

“This is our second-last year, so we’ve got another year to run next year. But next year, there’s going to be an overlap with the Agri Climate Rural Environmental Scheme (ACRES).

“For a lot of our farmers this will be their last payment because next year, we won’t be able to pay them on top of the ACRES payment because that’s results-based as well.

“On that basis, we have a bit more budget available to spend this year so we’ve increased our payment rate. We said that was justified on the basis of farmers delivering so much that they should be just duly rewarded for that.

“We’ve increased our payment rates to probably on average about 20-25% above what they were last year.

“So that’s reflected in average payment where it’s going to be up at around €4,800 across all 470 farmers. That’s a big jump from last year where it would have been nearly €3,500,” Dr. Crushell said.

Pearl Mussel

The freshwater pearl mussel is an exceptionally long-lived and slow-growing species that only lives in extremely clean water.

The record for the longest-living pearl mussel is around 140 years; the species commonly reaches over 100 years of age, making it Ireland’s longest-living animal.

Dr. Crushell believes that significant progress will be made in protecting the species over the lifetime of the PMP through addressing the threats to water quality and increasing farmer awareness.

“There’s no doubt that there’s been an improvement in the land management and the habitats. It’s obvious that will feed through to the water eventually.”

A survey undertaken this year has shown “a marked improvement” in one of the best pearl mussel populations in western Europe, located at Delphi in Co. Mayo.

“We can’t necessarily make claim to that, but it’s certainly an indication that things might be heading in the right direction, whether it’s on account of us or other things going on in the catchment,” Dr. Crushell said.

“But certainly it’s a nice indicator that things are improving. There are more juvenile mussels than there has been in any other previous surveys they have done in recent years.

“That’s a pat on the back for the farmers; they are the ones that have been doing all the hard work on the ground.

“Whether it’s less sheep dip being used in the catchment or an improvement of the flow regime and the water coming off the land, it’s having a positive effect,” he said.

ACRES

Crushell is hoping that the learnings from the Pearl Mussel Project will continue through ACRES which will begin in 2023 as part of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

“I think a key one is the farmer engagement, so the local team on the ground which is very popular amongst farmers, but it’s also so important to have that specialist advice available,” he said.

“That’s certainly something that will be continuing through the cooperation project.

“It’s a very positive thing that’s coming out to the cooperation projects that you’re targeting the right measures in the right place for the species and habitats.”

Crushell and his team have been appointed to oversee the ACRES cooperation project in the west Connacht region which will include around 5,000 farmers.

Following a recruitment drive there is now a team of 12 fulltime staff employed across six local areas in the catchment to help farmers and their advisors with ACRES.

“It’s upscaling for us, it’s a big change, but we’re looking forward to the challenge,” Crushell said.

Although he believes that ACRES will be an improvement on the Green Low Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS), Crushell feels that the cap on payments in the new scheme should be reviewed under the next CAP in 2027.