Rural Development Council Report October 2022

TAMS  

• TAMS Tranche 28 opened on 24^th September and will close on 16th December 2022. This will be the final tranche under the current TAMS. 
• IFA continues to lobby for a system to review costings before the opening of each tranche while the extremely high levels of inflation continue. 
• Following lobbying by IFA, a full review of TAMS reference costings was undertaken last year and implemented at the start of Tranche 26. 
• The increase in reference costings range from 5% to 15% across the investment’s items listed under TAMS. 
• 1,713 applications were received under Tranche 26, 100% approval for all valid applications.  

• To date, 52,092 approvals have been issued. 
• Payments of €387m have been paid out to 30,472 farmers to date. A further 1,003 farmers have lodged payment claims. 
• Average weekly payments range between €1.2- €1.4 million. 
• TAMS successor is schedule to commence in January as outlined in the draft CAP Strategic Plan. 

BPS/ANC Schemes 

• ANC advance payments (85%) commenced on Tuesday, 20^th September. 
• To date, €188 million has been paid to 87,767 farmers. 
• Payments are ongoing weekly as stocking rates/retention periods are met. The 15% balancing payment will be issued in December.  
• The 70% advance payment under the Basic Payment Scheme is expected to be made from the 17^th October 2022. 

Fodder Support Scheme 

• More than 70,000 farmers have applied for the Fodder Support Scheme. 
• 69,403 applications were received by midnight on the 2nd of August 2022, with an additional 680 late applications received before midnight on August 27th 2022. 
• Approximately 537,568 hectares will be payable under the scheme 

• The maximum area eligible for payment under the scheme is 10 hectares with a potential maximum payment of €1,000. The scheme is worth €56 million. 
• Payments will commence in late November 2022 once compliance checks and on the spot inspections have been completed.   

CAP Reform 

• At the end of July, the CAP Strategic Plan was formally resubmitted to the EU Commission, including changes required on foot of Commission feedback. 

• Following a formal approval process, the draft CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) 2023-2027 was adopted by the European Commission on 31 August 2022.   
• The CSP received final approval from the Irish Government on 4^th October. 
• The CAP Strategic Plan will commence from 1 January 2023.  
• Upon resubmission of the plan, changes were made to three eco-scheme practices: 

1. Extensive livestock production 

• Max. stocking rate reduced to 1.4 LU/ha from 1.5LU/ha 
• Min. stocking rate set to 0.1 LU/Ha 
• Enhanced Option: Maintaining a stocking rate less than 1.2 LU/ha will count as two Eco-Scheme actions and qualify for full payment  

2. Use of GPS Controlled fertiliser spreader to apply chemical fertilisers  

• 100% for chemical fertilisers/pesticides- increased from 60%  

3. Sowing of a Multi Species Sward  

• Sowing at least 7% of eligible hectares in the year the farmer selects this agricultural practice as one of his/her two Eco-scheme actions- Increased from 6% 

Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) 

A new Agri-climate rural environment scheme (ACRES) will replace the current GLAS scheme. The €1.5bn flagship agri-environmental scheme was launched by the Minster in June.  

 It will consist of two elements: 

1. Co-operation Project option 

available to farmers in defined high priority geographical areas. This is broken into results-based and general measures, and additional non-productive investments and landscape actions, which will be designed by local project teams for your land-type and region. Maximum payment is €10,500. Expected uptake is 20,000 farmers over a number of tranches 

2. General option 

available nationally (outside of the Co-operation Area), which offers a range of measures (both  results-based and general). Average payments are expected to be in the region of €5,000 per annum over the five-year period of the scheme with the potential to reach a maximum of €7,300. Intake on a tier-based system- similar to GLAS. Expected uptake is estimated to be 30,000 farmers over a number of tranches. 

• All applicants will also be required to complete a Farm Sustainability Plan using a registered advisor. 
• Draft Specifications for measures were released in early August. Following numerous engagements between IFA and DAFM, changes were made to some measures including; 

• Reducing maximum area for Extensively Grazed Pasture to 8ha from 10ha, and increasing the payment to €250/ha, in order to maintain the maximum payment of €2000. 
• Maintaining the maximum payable area for Riparian Buffer Zones at 2ha 

• Achieving flexibility on the €7,000 ringfenced for results-based measure and general actions in the co-operation areas 

• Final Measure Specifications and scheme Terms & Conditions are available to view on the Department of Agriculture website. 
• Applications are open, and expected to close in November. Ranking & Selection will take place in December, and pre-approval letters will be issued to successful applicants. Contracts will begin in January 2023. 

IFA Comments on ACRES 

• ACRES will only support 50,000 farmers – not sufficient to meet likely demand 
• In Budget 2023, 30,000 places made available in Tranche 1 of ACRES.  

• With contracts under GLAS and REAP set to finish at the end of this year, combined with expressions of interest for ACRES, it is expected that over 60,000 farmers may wish to participate in an agri-environment scheme.  

• Opening of Scheme on a Tranche basis will lead to a gap between completing GLAS and commencement of ACRES-it is essential that no farmer who wishes to participate is left out in 2023.  

• This can be done by offering a bridging payment to farmers who are not successful in tranche 1 of ACRES that matches that of their previous agri-environmental scheme. payment or by paying an upfront ACRES payment in 2023 for Tranche 2 participants, similar to the way REPS payments were in the past. 

Upcoming Events 

• Farmers Charter of Rights- October 2022 
• IFA meeting with Agriculture Appeals Office- October 2022          

• Rural Development Monitoring Committee Meeting- November 2022