Irish farmers who need forage from land enrolled in the Geese and Swans action of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) may be covered by EU force majeure provisions, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon said on the evening of 30 September.
Under the current rules, farmers in the action are paid for not grazing or using machinery on the designated land from 1 October to 31 March. According to the department, the action is critical to giving migratory, overwintering waterbirds places to feed, because human disturbance triggers flight responses that threaten their survival in the winter months.
Heydon said changing the measure's conditions in general would require an amendment to Ireland's CAP Strategic Plan approved by the European Commission. That would take several months and, because it could undermine the measure's purpose, might not be approved, so he does not propose to change the basic requirements.
Instead, he will ask the Commission to accept that a farmer who uses forage from these areas to feed their own livestock, and so does not deliver the action, can be covered by force majeure. It would apply only at individual farm level and only to that farm's own forage needs, not to forage harvested for export. Applications go to the department's ACRES Division at Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, and will be subject to inspection.
Heydon said positive grass growth in recent weeks should help farmers manage fodder for the winter, and that he will keep watching fodder availability closely.
Photo: Des Colhoun / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source: Agriland
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