CHANGES TO the Single Farm Payment will see commonage abandoned and newly created habitats destroyed by farmers who will be penalised for keeping them, a leading environmentalist has claimed.
Catherine Kenna, countryside management specialist with Teagasc, said farmers were being forced to clear land of scrubland, for which they were rewarded in the past, to maintain their farm payments.
She said more than 14,000 farmers in the Rural Environment Protection Scheme had been paid to set 0.8 hectare aside to create new habitats, and this had amounted to 13,000 hectares.
As farmers leave the scheme at the end of their contract, they have discovered that under new regulations this land will have to be returned to grassland for them to retain their Single Farm Payment.
Farmers were made aware of this in May when they completed their payment forms. May is bird nesting season, when scrub should not be removed or burned.
“I know farmers who have removed these sites reluctantly because they do not want to be penalised now if they are inspected under the new regulations,” Ms Kenna said.
The problem was highlighted at a recent biodiversity conference in Wexford, which also heard that eligible heather areas under the new scheme had reduced by 50 per cent where the heather was above shin height, she added.
“I can see farmers abandoning commonage altogether rather than lose their entitlements in the future. They will receive payments this year but it will be more difficult in the future,” said Ms Kenna.
There was also concern about the rules on the removal of vegetation along rivers, which has the potential to endanger the freshwater pearl mussel.
“Burren farmers are facing reductions of over one-third in eligible upland area. The intimate mosaic of internationally important grasslands and EU-priority habitats of limestone pavement causes problems for the new rules for the Single Payment Scheme.”
Calling for adequate payment for farmers who create “public good”, she said there had to be flexibility in relation to payment rates.
“Because agri-environment schemes only pay on eligible areas, it is ironic that they cannot pay on these non-eligible areas where farming is essential to maintain them in good environmental condition.”