Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has moved to remind farmers of the upcoming deadline under the Results-Based Environment Agri Pilot Project (REAP).
Land brought into REAP must be assessed and scored by Department of Agriculture-trained REAP advisors.
Year one assessments are currently “well underway” to establish land environmental and biodiversity status, the minister said.
Advisors are working with farmers to identify suitable fields for the scheme. It is envisaged that this will bring up to 46,000ha into the project.
To participate in the project and avoid penalties, assessments and land scorings must be submitted to the department’s Generic Land Management (GLAM) system by advisors by this Sunday (August 15).
After the assessments are processed, farmers will undertake environmental works to increase the environmental value of their land and improve their environmental score in 2022.
Farms with the highest scoring will receive the greatest payment.
“I am delighted that the REAP project is now well underway. This project will prepare Irish agriculture to engage in the results-based approach which I expect to feature in the new CAP [Common Agricultural Policy].
“The incentive-based approach will support farmers in the delivery of environmental benefits. REAP also supports farm incomes by providing up to €12,600 to participating farms over the term of the REAP contract,” Minister McConalogue said.
“To ensure the success of REAP, all participants and their advisors are reminded to submit their field assessments and scoring details to the department by August 15,” he urged.
The REAP project saw an enthusiastic response from farmers that resulted in approval of just under 5,000 participants, after only 2,000 farmers had been originally planned for.
REAP is a pilot project designed to trial the results-based model across the county and to test the feasibility of upscaling the model as part of the next national agri-environment scheme to follow from the Green, Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS).