Membership Benefits

Exclusive Discounts for ICSA Members 

Join ICSA Today

An Association of Farmers for Farmers

Compliance with REPS has left Farmers at a Disadvantage

Jul 22, 2014 | Press Releases | 0 comments

July 22nd 2014

ICSA suckler chairman Dermot Kelleher says that participation in REPS has left many farmers at a disadvantage since the closure of the scheme. Apart from the financial loss, former participants in REPS have been further hit with the development of rules on land eligibility under the Single Farm Payment scheme.

“Farmers who were in REPS applied good environmental practices on their farms and maintained biodiversity, as required by the scheme,” said Mr. Kelleher. “For instance, they maintained habitats which are now ineligible or partially ineligible for the Single Farm Payment. These farmers are now facing fines for protecting and preserving what they would once have been entitled to a payment for.”

“If the REPS scheme had never been introduced, farmers might have reclaimed this land, but as it stands, if they were REPS-compliant, now their land is ineligible for the Single Farm Payment.”

The REPS (Rural Environment Protection Scheme) was introduced in 1994 and closed to new applicants in 2009, with final payments under the scheme due in 2014.

Share Socially

All

Latest

FACTORIES DIRECTING THE TRADE TO FILL THEIR OWN FEEDLOTS

ICSA Beef chair Edmund Graham has criticised factories for attempting to direct the trade by pulling prices this week in order to fill their own feedlots. “Prices being pulled this week is a disgrace as there is no real justification for it. The average GB price (England, Scotland, Wales) has increased by the equivalent of 20c/kg excluding VAT since the start of August. Meanwhile, after a few weeks of improved prices, factories are attempting to drive Irish prices to a new low for 2023. This is not acceptable,” he said.

Livestock Prices

Latest