A mere sixth of the participants in the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme has withdrawn from it since 2020, despite plans for future eco schemes to be modeled on this approach to biodiversity.
This week’s figures show that GLAS currently has 7,000 fewer registered participants than 2020.
Nearly 49,000 farmers participated in GLAS in 2020, as compared to the 2022 figure which was 41,650. While this drop has been called regrettable, Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said that it is a choice farmers made.
He said that he was not certain of the reasons and he answered questions from independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice at the Oireachtas select panel on agriculture, food, and the marine.
Every farmer’s reasoning will be different.
We had the Results-Based Environmental-Agri Pilot Project [REAP]Also, this was only for farmers who aren’t currently in GLAS.
This was a very successful scheme, even for those not in GLAS.
McConalogue stated that his approach to GLAS was making sure that farmers could roll over their participation while they were in the transition years.
We saw 42,000 out of the 49,000 who had completed 5 years roll over their participation to get the extra year.
There are many reasons.
McConalogue acknowledged that this drop-off of around 15% was significant, but that there is no other way to change it than to ensure that farmers continue to grow.
He said that we could not create a new program for them.
It would be easier for people who are in GLAS to continue on GLAS and continue with the existing measures than to create a new scheme.
I don’t believe that a new scheme would have allowed those 7,000 farmers to be captured.
Perhaps they are retiring. I can imagine them. [is]There are many reasons why this is so.
Fitzmaurice expressed regret at the decline in participation in an environmental program. He also questioned if it is because GLAS was very restrictive – if there was no land available, you could re-lease it.
McConalogue stated that it is easier to implement a one-year program than a five-year plan.
Farmers only had to choose to extend it for a year. The idea was to maximize the opportunity for as many farmers and as many people as possible. Budget 2022 maintained a number of farm programs, including GLAS. Contracts under these schemes were due to end on December 31, 2021.
Extension of GLAS contracts
Participants in the three tranches GLAS, GLAS 1, 2, 3 and 3, were offered an extension of their contracts up to December 31, 2022. 91% of the participants had already applied to extend their contract. Participants in GLAS were also offered extensions for 2021, with the majority of those who applied requesting to extend.
Over 6,000 people opted out of the 2021 scheme, which saw the number of applicants drop from 48,629 in 2020 to 42,000 in 2021.
The scheme is designed to give priority to farmers with sensitive lands, such as areas that include sensitive landscapes or water areas, or areas that are the habitat for specific wild birds.
The scheme was closed to new entrants in 2016, but payments continue under a five year contract. Between 2015 and 2016, the scheme was implemented in three phrases Tranche 1 and Tranche 2.
Specific payment rates are dependent on your land and the actions taken, but in general, the maximum payment per year is 5,000
Michael Biggins, chairman and chief executive of the Irish Farmers Association rural committee, stated that the department made it very easy for farmers to rollover the scheme.
We had raised a problem with the Department about people who leased land. The lease was almost up. They might have had bird cover or other measures. They weren’t allowed to move this measure to another plot.
In reality, it might have been one of the largest paying measures that a farmer would have. They may have even opted out completely. It was disappointing. We had discussed this issue with the Department a few times in 2020, and could see that this was going to be an issue for some farmers.
Mr Biggins indicated that some farmers may have left the scheme, while others could have made a change in their business. However, in any scheme like this, there’s always a drop-off.
GLAS will be replaced in 2023 by a new agrienvironment and climate measure (AECM), under the new Common Agricultural Policy.
The scheme will open in tranches. The first tranche will accept 30,000 farmers in 2023, while the second tranche will accept 20,000 farmers in 2024.
Biggins stated that there is a demand for farmers to join the schemes. However, the department must make the new AECM farmer-friendly and appealing to as wide a range of farmers as possible. He stated that it is vital that the new scheme be accessible to as many people as possible.
The thing that we were most concerned about with the new scheme is that they are talking about it being in tranches. However, there is scope for 50,000 to sign up in 2023.
People depend on environmental programs to supplement their income. However some people may experience a break in those and lose their income.
Input costs
Tim Farrell (chair of the Irish Cattle & Sheep Farmers Association’s Rural Development Committee) stated that GLAS does not deliver a worthwhile payment due to the high inflation in farm input costs.
The drastic reductions in payments to farmers when they moved from the REPS, through AEOS, and onto GLAS left them feeling disappointed. This coincided with an increase expectation that farmers should do more about climate change and biodiversity,” Mr Farrell stated.
“Those expectations are still there. But the penny must drop that these expectations cannot be met if there is not adequate financial support or reward.
“Most farmers struggle just to make ends meet, so they can’t fund a climate mitigation solution that will benefit the entire country.
The ICSA believes an agrienvironment scheme that would provide a maximum payment in the next CAP of 15,000 would have “feathered farmers the means and rewards to achieve ambitious targets”
Mr Farrell stated, “Ultimately however, however, the scheme that DAFM submitted in their final CAP submissions to the European Commission will deliver an Average Payment of Just 5,000.”
“This is simply insufficient, especially given the massive inflation of all input costs.”
