REPS Plan

adne

In Feb I notified my local TEAGASC advisor that i wanted to Join REPS.

He came and walked my land at the start of April.

I rang him yesterday to check on the status of my application and he told me he has not the plan done yet.

I asked him if he would get the application submitted on time and he told me he could not say yes or no.

I now have to sit and leave all in his hands as its too late toget another planner to complete the application.....

locky76

adne wrote: »

In Feb I notified my local TEAGASC advisor that i wanted to Join REPS.

He came and walked my land at the start of April.

I rang him yesterday to check on the status of my application and he told me he has not the plan done yet.

I asked him if he would get the application submitted on time and he told me he could not say yes or no.

I now have to sit and leave all in his hands as its too late toget another planner to complete the application.....

private planner man, private planner
a bit late now adne but teagasc can hide behind the size of the company
a private planner is accountable

adne

ya i think your right...... this guy is a pure chancer anyhow

Doubt i will get a private planner at this stage

snowman707

locky76 wrote: »

private planner man, private planner
a bit late now adne but teagasc can hide behind the size of the company
a private planner is accountable

+1

Private all the way.

Dumped teagasc & their crap service & ADVICE many years ago, never looked back.

reilig

Not a fan of the private planner at all. Feel they have no accountability. At least if Teagasc make a f*ck up they are accountable to their supervisors and you can complain to their supervisors, private guys have just themselves.

My OH's land is done with a private planner. Last year they lost out on 50% of their payments because he made major mistakes in the plan. They still haven't received money from it but stupidly went ahead and got him to put them into REPS 4. All was submitted by second week in January. Dept of Ag rang them in early Feb to say that it was rejected and needed to be completely resubmitted again. Planner would not answer the phone to them for 1 month and finally one day in March he rang to say that he had it sorted. They were very annoyed cause the guy From the Dep of Ag that rang them had told them that one major problem with their plan was no consistency in new hedgerow planting and coppicing - he had 20 metres here and there - all over the place and in unsuitable locations. When the planner sent out the new plan, this was not changed. But it has been submitted. They're in limbo now because they don't know if its been accepted or rejected and its too late to find a new planner now. He wasn't slow about sending a bill to them. €900 for a reps plan for 60 acres. That's crazy. We get 2 reps plans done for that on 2 x 100 acres with teagasc. Maybe its not about the organisation, more the person, but this guy is crap and doesn't give a sh!t whether they get reps or not. He will see no money if they don't.

Keeperlit

Thats an absolute disgrace adne....where abouts in the country are you?

reilig

But on the other side, I know several independent planners that are top class, so don't get me wrong. He may be just a once off.

adne

Keeperlit wrote: »

Thats an absolute disgrace adne....where abouts in the country are you?

I'm in Sligo Keeperlit...... nothing i can do now only sit and wait ....
If he doesn't get it done i will be following it up with his superiors

snowman707

reilig wrote: »

But on the other side, I know several independent planners that are top class, so don't get me wrong. He may be just a once off.

Then why didn't you recommend 1 of these? instead of letting them go with the gobsh1te they had.
Also they should have asked his fees before getting him, not after.


my planner was due to visit last tuesday at 3.30, rang me at 2.00 to say he was running late. He arrived about 5.00 & borrowed the old jeep to "walk" the land on his own as we were tied up in the yard, he had already walked the out farms on his own, eventually met up with him at the kitchen table at about 7.30 to complete the paper work.

He left at 9.30 pm to drive 55 miles home, his next appointment was for a new reps entrant at 6.00 am the following morning.

snowman707

adne wrote: »

If he doesn't get it done i will be following it up with his superiors

wish you luck, but I had to go as far as sending a solicitor's letter to the CAO to get a refund of money taken from my milk cheque, I did sign a debit permission for a once off payment for work done, it was used differently.

reilig

snowman707 wrote: »

Then why didn't you recommend 1 of these? instead of letting them go with the gobsh1te they had.
Also they should have asked his fees before getting him, not after.

I don't live there and know nothing about any planners in Galway (only that this one is a waste of space).

As I said, they've been getting him for years and his charges have always been sensible. Its just this time that he seems to have nearly trebled the usual charge.

road_high

I blame the Dept for changing the good old system of REPS whereby you could join at any time and get paid accordingly.
Friend of mine works in Teagasc, their work load is ridiculous and they all ahve a big income target. Plus a lot of their contracts are not going to be renewed so morale is on the floor naturally enough..

snowman707

reilig wrote: »

Not a fan of the private planner at all. Feel they have no accountability. At least if Teagasc make a f*ck up they are accountable to their supervisors and you can complain to their supervisors, private guys have just themselves.

My OH's land is done with a private planner. Last year they lost out on 50% of their payments because he made major mistakes in the plan. They still haven't received money from it but stupidly went ahead and got him to put them into REPS 4. All was submitted by second week in January. Dept of Ag rang them in early Feb to say that it was rejected and needed to be completely resubmitted again. Planner would not answer the phone to them for 1 month and finally one day in March he rang to say that he had it sorted. They were very annoyed cause the guy From the Dep of Ag that rang them had told them that one major problem with their plan was no consistency in new hedgerow planting and coppicing - he had 20 metres here and there - all over the place and in unsuitable locations. When the planner sent out the new plan, this was not changed. But it has been submitted. They're in limbo now because they don't know if its been accepted or rejected and its too late to find a new planner now. He wasn't slow about sending a bill to them. €900 for a reps plan for 60 acres. That's crazy. We get 2 reps plans done for that on 2 x 100 acres with teagasc. Maybe its not about the organisation, more the person, but this guy is crap and doesn't give a sh!t whether they get reps or not. He will see no money if they don't.

Page 4 of this week's IFJ confirms that yes indeed T****sc are top of the league, for screwing money from from farmer's pockets, that is.

Might come as a surprise to you, but I found out years ago.

Also over 50% of their planners are on contact & if you claim again them you will soon find out who they are accountable to.

"We get 2 reps plans done for that on 2 x 100 acres with teagasc"


Are you talking about the annual fee or the initial plan.

reilig

snowman707 wrote: »

Page 4 of this week's IFJ confirms that yes indeed T****sc are top of the league, for screwing money from from farmer's pockets, that is.

Might come as a surprise to you, but I found out years ago.

Also over 50% of their planners are on contact & if you claim again them you will soon find out who they are accountable to.

"We get 2 reps plans done for that on 2 x 100 acres with teagasc"


Are you talking about the annual fee or the initial plan.

Personally, My reps planner isn't on contract with teagasc, so I know who he is accountable to. Also, you are wrong to come on here and suggest that planners who are contracted to teagasc are not accountable to teagasc management. Of course they are. They are contracted by teagasc. Use the teagasc brand and get paid through teagasc. What could make you thing otherwise?

I will split the difference with you, you have had a bad experience with teagasc, and I have had a bad expeerience with a private planner. It doesn't mean that my reps planner from teagasc or your private planner are crap. In fact, as I said above, the majority of them are very good at their jobs and work very hard to provide a good service for their client be they self employed, employed by teagasc or employed by a private planner.

The fee that I talked about was the initial plan, and I know from annual fees paid to private planners by friends that teagasc are not ripping me off either.

adne

reilig wrote: »

Personally, My reps planner isn't on contract with teagasc, so I know who he is accountable to. Also, you are wrong to come on here and suggest that planners who are contracted to teagasc are not accountable to teagasc management. Of course they are. They are contracted by teagasc. Use the teagasc brand and get paid through teagasc. What could make you thing otherwise?

I will split the difference with you, you have had a bad experience with teagasc, and I have had a bad expeerience with a private planner. It doesn't mean that my reps planner from teagasc or your private planner are crap. In fact, as I said above, the majority of them are very good at their jobs and work very hard to provide a good service for their client be they self employed, employed by teagasc or employed by a private planner.

The fee that I talked about was the initial plan, and I know from annual fees paid to private planners by friends that teagasc are not ripping me off either.

By Any chance do you work for Teasgac Reilig :)

reilig

adne wrote: »

By Any chance do you work for Teasgac Reilig :)

No, actually I don't. I just know that they have been good to me over the last few years. Have been good at getting information to me, hosting valuable open days and evenings that I learned a lot from and are generally approachable.

When a family member of mine decided that they wanted to join reps 2 weeks ago, I went to teagasc and they told me that they were over subsribed and wouldn't have time to do it. 2 hours later they called me to say that they had a retired employee who would walk the land and do the necessary paperwork for the lads in the office who could then submit it for us. Now you have to admit that they were good to us and did all that they could to help us.

I treat them with respect, and they do the same to me. I'll bring my planner in for tea when he's walking the farm. If I see him out, I'll buy him a pint. After all, he is a source of income to me and I rely on him much more than he does on me.

road_high

snowman707 wrote: »

Page 4 of this week's IFJ confirms that yes indeed T****sc are top of the league, for screwing money from from farmer's pockets, that is.

Might come as a surprise to you, but I found out years ago.

Also over 50% of their planners are on contact & if you claim again them you will soon find out who they are accountable to.

"We get 2 reps plans done for that on 2 x 100 acres with teagasc"


Are you talking about the annual fee or the initial plan.

Yes but if you read the article the differences in price are quite miniscule. Something like €100 at the top end of the scale. Typical IFJ. Have a total agenda against Teagasc running.

And as for the screwing money out of farmers pockets what a laugh .
You pay at most 1400 or €1500 to get a plan done for 5 years. You can earn up to 8000 or €9000 per annum for the 5 years provided you comply with all the regs and measures.
That has to be good value in anyones language. Afterall, no plan=nopotential income stream.
Famersare far too quick to jump on the bandwagon of the IFJ screaming that plans are a rip off and forget very quickly what they are getting in return.

A FAR bigger issue the likes of the IFA and their mouthpiece should be concerned with is proving to the EU taxpayer that they are commited to delivering value for money on biodiversity to ensure the survival of this important income stream.

Sam Kade

mfitzy wrote: »

And as for the screwing money out of farmers pockets what a laugh .
You pay at most 1400 or €1500 to get a plan done for 5 years. You can earn up to 8000 or €9000 per annum for the 5 years provided you comply with all the regs and measures.

It also costs money to comply with REPS lime spreading, painting sheds, hedge cutting, laying hedges etc. also if you want to change your plan it costs almost as much as drawing up the original plan. It isn't as simple as drawing up a plan for 5 years paying €1400 and getting money for nothing for 5 years.

adne

After ringing my Teagasc Advisor for update on status of my REPS application... He still cannot tell me if he will have it complete or not.
Is this guy taking me for a fool. im sure he should know at this stage

road_high

Sam Kade wrote: »

It also costs money to comply with REPS lime spreading, painting sheds, hedge cutting, laying hedges etc. also if you want to change your plan it costs almost as much as drawing up the original plan. It isn't as simple as drawing up a plan for 5 years paying €1400 and getting money for nothing for 5 years.

But thats your choice then. You can either forgo the REPS for the five years or pay the initial cost of doing up a plan and spending the money on what is needed to follow the plan. If a farmer is not happy to do this well then don't join in the first place.

road_high

adne wrote: »

After ringing my Teagasc Advisor for update on status of my REPS application... He still cannot tell me if he will have it complete or not.
Is this guy taking me for a fool. im sure he should know at this stage

I think you would want to be getting a yes or no answer at this stage in the day.

Sam Kade

mfitzy wrote: »

But thats your choice then. You can either forgo the REPS for the five years or pay the initial cost of doing up a plan and spending the money on what is needed to follow the plan. If a farmer is not happy to do this well then don't join in the first place.

You said farmers were getting money for nothing by joining REPS I was just correcting you.

road_high

Sam Kade wrote: »

You said farmers were getting money for nothing by joining REPS I was just correcting you.

I never said such a thing. I was simply reffering to the cost of plans initially vs the potential income. Nowhere did I mention cost of compliance which I would have taken as a given for anybody joining REPS (and usually far less for those already in REPS and continuing on).

adne

How much should it cost for a REPS plan for a 36 Hectare Farm?

Username John

adne wrote: »

How much should it cost for a REPS plan for a 36 Hectare Farm?

Hello Adne,

I heard that the plan fee is ~10% of your REPS payment, and is what I paid last year for my REPS plan.

A

snowman707

Username John wrote: »

Hello Adne,

I heard that the plan fee is ~10% of your REPS payment, and is what I paid last year for my REPS plan.

A

yep depends on size of farm .

our planner will not look for payment until we have 100% of our reps payment received.

Teagasc are threatening not to lodge plans until they have payment received in full.

adne

snowman707 wrote: »

Teagasc are threatening not to lodge plans until they have payment received in full.

Finally got my REPS application in this morning.. Teagasc would not submit it until i paid up in full. Said they having problems getting money from people

Keeperlit

adne wrote: »

How much should it cost for a REPS plan for a 36 Hectare Farm?

How much were you charged in the end.......around 900?

adne

Keeperlit wrote: »

How much were you charged in the end.......around 900?

1050

road_high

adne wrote: »

Finally got my REPS application in this morning.. Teagasc would not submit it until i paid up in full. Said they having problems getting money from people

Ah nice one. Glad you got it done in the end

adne

mfitzy wrote: »

Ah nice one. Glad you got it done in the end

Cheers mFitzy, im deighted to have it sorted. Word is that REPS will be closed to new applicants from today

snowman707

adne wrote: »

1050

Ouch !! & money up front as well, typical.

but at least you got it lodged in time, reps is a good scheme, and a good planner will save you a lot of money & work in complying.

road_high

snowman707 wrote: »

Ouch !! & money up front as well, typical.

but at least you got it lodged in time, reps is a good scheme, and a good planner will save you a lot of money & work in complying.

Very true, it's a good investment. Think that has always been the policy with Teagasc/Consultants as we all know people are not always as good as their word unfortunately..

road_high

So REPS 4 is still open it seems despite all the hullaballoo created by the IFA over its' possible closure; guys you make it so easy for the governement. You create fear and panic among the farmers that the scheme will close. In my opinion anyhow, that gives the perfect oppurtunity for the governemnt to do just that/or cut the funding which they have done already. Farmers just say the "ah sure, we expected that to happen" and the government gets away with it!
It softens greatly the anger among farmers if/when a scheme is pulled/cut as the IFA have them built up to expect it! Instead they should be fighting tooth and nail to keep what is there already.

reilig

REPS 4 is under review at the moment. New applications will not be accepted until after this review. While it will be still be open, it is not known if there will be different terms and conditions for new entrants after the review.

mfitzy wrote: »

So REPS 4 is still open it seems despite all the hullaballoo created by the IFA over its' possible closure; guys you make it so easy for the governement. You create fear and panic among the farmers that the scheme will close. In my opinion anyhow, that gives the perfect oppurtunity for the governemnt to do just that/or cut the funding which they have done already. Farmers just say the "ah sure, we expected that to happen" and the government gets away with it!
It softens greatly the anger among farmers if/when a scheme is pulled/cut as the IFA have them built up to expect it! Instead they should be fighting tooth and nail to keep what is there already.

dryan

and when do we expect to hear the outcome of this review??