Hill farmers face extinction with new inspections

TWENTY two organisations covering a wide span of farming and environmental interests have written to the Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney, warning him that land eligibility assessments now in place, will lead to rural depopulation and the ‘abandonment’ of natura lands.

The letter – signed by Colm O’Donnell of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association – and supported by 21 other organisations, warns that recent reductions in land eligibility following Dept. inspections will have disastrous concequences for places like Castledaly and Derrybrien in South Galway.

Farmers are now finding themselves in a ‘damned if they do and damned if they don’t’ scenario as Dept. inspectors rule out thousands of acres of land for EU payments on the grounds of agricultural under-utilisation.

Back the years, farmers were forced to undergo destocking programmes because of overgrazing on the hills – now they find themselves penalised for not carrying out enough farming activity on the same lands.

“Evidence from monitoring of commonages in recent years has shown a trajectory of improvement and now is the time to build on this improvement – not abandon the extensive agricultural use of these areas on which their biodiversity, landscape character and local communities depend,” said Colm O’Donnell in an open letter to Minister Simon Coveney.

He warns that if the Dept. doesn’t row back on its current policy of imposing massive reductions in land eligibility that there will be five main consequences:

■ Widespread land abandonment.

■ Significant loss of biodiversity.

■ A negative impact on farm productivity and Ireland’s international green image.

■ It will lead to a breach of European Nature Directives.

■ It will have a severe economic and social impact on rural communities.

Mr. O’Donnell’s letter to the Minister also warns that what is even more worrying is the Department’s imminent plans to systematically interpret the eligibility rules to further reduce the reference areas on similar lands on a much wider scale.

He said that these eligibility cuts were being carried out at a time when ‘considerable flexibility’ was granted by the EU to member states to define appropriate eligibility criteria, taking into account established local practices in their region.

“There is considerable flexibility granted to member states to define appropriate eligibility criteria taking into account established local practices in their region.

“The Commission has clearly delegated to member states the flexibility to consider eligible permanent grassland which can be grazed and which forms part of established local practices where grasses and other herbaceous forage are traditionally not predominant.

“This is further clarified in Commission Guidance document DSCG/2014/33 on the Land Parcel Identification System,” Mr. O’Donnell’s letter states.

Among the organisations supporting the stance of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association are BirdWatch Ireland, several wildlife groups, farm advisers, local gaming and gun clubs and the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association.