Why scrubland owners should get back-pay now EU has changed its tune

Many of us will be sitting down with a fortifying cup of tea and biscuit of choice to have a look over BISS applications the Department recently sent.

Because of recent rule changes, land that was previously deemed as ‘scrub’ on our farm has now become eligible for payment. It means that of the 22 entitlements we have, I could claim up to 25 if I had the extra ones.

The funny — although not that funny — thing is that we did previously have more than 22 entitlements but they were taken off us for the National Reserve. The Department of Agriculture, in their wisdom, deducted our entitlements off scrub areas because they said we weren’t using the areas for “productive” farming.

Now those areas are deemed to have a high nature value, but we’ve still been penalised for saving bee and bird habitats. The land is back on the Department’s radar but we haven’t been refunded for the entitlements the Department took off us in the first place.

I’m not trying to be mean about the National Reserve — it’s a vital scheme for any young farmer getting on the ladder, and for anyone interested our own entitlements are bang on average. But given that there are plenty of other farmers out there who did the opposite of what the Department was incentivising them to do, and kept areas of scrub for nature, shouldn’t the Department admit the flaw in its advice and create some kind of redress scheme to restore entitlements on scrub land?

Otherwise, what was the point of turning around in the most recent CAP and telling us that the land they’d previously penalised was actually good for something?

The farmers hanging on to bits of scrub for wildlife were well aware of their true value, and well aware they were going to be penalised for keeping those bits of scrub. The only ones out of step were the Department.

In the area of redress schemes, do you ever see something and wonder, how on earth is that issue still rumbling on?

It’s a thought that hits me every time I see any mention of the ‘forgotten farmers’ situation where around 4,000 farmers starting their careers 16 years ago were locked out of Young Farmer Payments because the government coffers were closed due to the recession.

You could say that the numbers impacted are a relatively small proportion of the 120,000 farmers in the country, but it’s almost double the number that are directly impacted by the recent cut to the Nitrates Derogation and there was enough clamour made about that to wake the dead.

You could ask why the government and Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue should prioritise the forgotten farmer situation when there are so many other issues, but it’s important not just for the farmers affected but politically.

Several years ago the Minister took a strong public position that he would be the person to remedy the forgotten farmer situation, and details of a scheme were shared, but there hasn’t been even a whisper of a launch date.

So far this year, there have been three parliamentary questions asked on the issue. Two by Sinn Féin’s Claire Kerrane and one by Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins.

The Minister reiterated much of what we already know. Some 3,900 farmers have been identified as ‘forgotten farmers’ and a scheme is estimated to cost €12m.

He ended his response to deputy Collins with: “I am committed to delivering for these farmers, many of whom find themselves in this situation through no fault of their own, at the earliest opportunity.”

Which is basically the same thing he said to Minister Patrick O’Donovan 13 months ago.

Part of the issue with the forgotten farmers is that they are a disparate group from all around the country and in different sectors, which in comparison to the farmers in derogation, weakens their lobbying efforts considerably.

Yet the mark of a farm organisation or a minister shouldn’t be how well they look after the loudest farmers but the weakest and those most in need. That’s why it will be a stain on the Minister’s record if he doesn’t live up to his personal promise to them.

Apart from these two bugbears, real life on the farm is going well. Every calf, whether beef or dairy, has arrived alive and unassisted and we just have three more cows to go before the finishing line. Now all we need is the rain gods to take a nationwide siesta.

‘We’ve still been penalised for saving bee and bird habitats – we haven’t been refunded for the entitlements the Department took off us in the first place’