Your BPS payment?

in advance of your planting.

You can consider the planting of eligible land you purchased or inherited.

Such land may also be eligible for a BPS payment, provided it satisfies all of the eligibility criteria outlined above.

You may buy an existing eligible forest parcel and use it to activate purchased entitlements.

Provided that all BPS eligibility requirements are met, the forestry contract number is valid and in the name of the applicant and the applicant is eligible for forest premium payment in the BPS scheme year in question.

If you received entitlements from the National Reserve, you may plant part of your holding and use eligible forestry to activate these entitlements.

All entitlements allocated under BPS and the National Reserve are subject to a twoyear usage rule.

Any entitlement unused for two consecutive years will revert to the National Reserve.

You can check your entitlement usage position on the DAFM online facility (www. agfood.ie).

Please note, this scenario list is not exhaustive, and farmers need to be fully informed before committing to a valuable resource.

Where can I get further information?

Getting one-to-one advice is very important before making a permanent land use change.

Farmers plant forestry for numerous reasons such as guaranteed income, biodiversity, landscaping and, potentially, reducing the workload on the farm.

Teagasc foresters provide independent and objective advice on forestry matters to all landowners.

Their contact details can be found online at www.teagasc. ie/forestry.