REPS question

johngalway

Hi folks,

Was it possible pre Christmas 2008 to "jump" from REPS 3 to REPS 4?, if your REPS 3 5 year plan hadn't fully ran it's course i.e. in year 4.

If yes, what would that have entailed, just drawing up and submitting a new plan along REPS 4 guidelines?

ATB,

John

vanderbadger

johngalway wrote: »

Hi folks,

Was it possible pre Christmas 2008 to "jump" from REPS 3 to REPS 4?, if your REPS 3 5 year plan hadn't fully ran it's course i.e. in year 4.

If yes, what would that have entailed, just drawing up and submitting a new plan along REPS 4 guidelines?

ATB,

John

ya i think it was possible, you would have had to do up a new plan, i asked my planner about changing but they recommended against it...obviously that worked out well for me

johngalway

I also asked my planned pre Christmas 2008 and I was told it was not possible until my existing REPS 3 contract had run it's course.

I think this :mad: expresses how I feel.

agcons

Yes it was possible to switch by submitting a new REPS 4 plan, start up date varied depending on what rules were in place when the farmer applied. Most planners advised against it because REPS 4 was to run to 2012 so in the long run farmers were better off finishing off REPS 3 before joing REPS 4. Unfortunately no one expected the axe to fall so heavily in July.

Curious Geroge

Final date for REPs 4 application this year was back in May 15th 09. As mentioned, REPs 3 farmers would be better off finishing out the agreed term and then entering REPs 4 but Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith closed the door to all farmers not currently in REPs 4 in June. This means approx 40 farmers are now left without any payment after years of making the changes required by previous REP's plans.

On the same note, the farming community have been very quiet on this matter over recent months on the expectation that the new scheme announced by Minister Brendan Smith will be sufficient !! December 17th is the deadline for this new scheme to be submitted so we'll have to wait and see.

johngalway

I kinda knew more than I let on when I posted, as I wanted other opinions which I've gotten now. My gripe is, I wasn't advised against joining REPS 4, I was told it was completely impossible, which has left me now severely out of pocket. It's the last time I'll be taking Teagasc advice.

As for not knowing REPS would close, I didn't for sure. But, I had a bad feeling about it given how things were going end of last year with the recession, banking etc. So I was extremely eager to ditch my final REPS 3 year and get secured into a 5 year REPS 4 contract. I said as much to a senior Teagasc man, this Feb or March I think, who told me there were no worries regarding REPS :rolleyes:

I banged my drum about REPS fairly hard at a recent IFA meeting with a minister, a TD and several councilors present. "We need to save money yadda yadda..." I won't name the minister for obvious reasons but I wouldn't trust that man as far as I could throw him.

I was talking to a solicitor today, on another matter, and she happened to remark that a new figure of €5,000 was doing the rounds about this new scheme, however accurate that is is another matter.

vanderbadger

was at an IFA meeting there recently, one of the chaps speaking was on about ameeting he attended with the minister for ag, anyway without actually saying it this guy reckoned the new scheme wouldnt be too bad when it was up and running..like i say it was alot of reading between the lines kinda thing so you never know

Curious Geroge

johngalway wrote: »

I was talking to a solicitor today, on another matter, and she happened to remark that a new figure of €5,000 was doing the rounds about this new scheme, however accurate that is is another matter.

Hi john, very same boat (very same county). Is this figure of €5,000 related to what hectares of % of REPs 3 payment ?

Is the minister still planning to have the details released on the 17th ? ie. Thursday; I've been waiting on this since june !!

johngalway

Curious Geroge wrote: »

Hi john, very same boat (very same county). Is this figure of €5,000 related to what hectares of % of REPs 3 payment ?

Is the minister still planning to have the details released on the 17th ? ie. Thursday; I've been waiting on this since june !!

My sympathies George! I'm not even gonna ask if we've the same planner!

I don't know any more about the new scheme than what I said above, if I hear more I'll post it up

DanFindy

johngalway wrote: »

I kinda knew more than I let on when I posted, as I wanted other opinions which I've gotten now. My gripe is, I wasn't advised against joining REPS 4, I was told it was completely impossible, which has left me now severely out of pocket. It's the last time I'll be taking Teagasc advice.

As for not knowing REPS would close, I didn't for sure. But, I had a bad feeling about it given how things were going end of last year with the recession, banking etc. So I was extremely eager to ditch my final REPS 3 year and get secured into a 5 year REPS 4 contract. I said as much to a senior Teagasc man, this Feb or March I think, who told me there were no worries regarding REPS :rolleyes:

I banged my drum about REPS fairly hard at a recent IFA meeting with a minister, a TD and several councilors present. "We need to save money yadda yadda..." I won't name the minister for obvious reasons but I wouldn't trust that man as far as I could throw him.

I was talking to a solicitor today, on another matter, and she happened to remark that a new figure of €5,000 was doing the rounds about this new scheme, however accurate that is is another matter.

To the best of my knowledge if u were partially through your 4th year of REPS 3 you could not jump to REPS 4, but if u were in your final year you could.

johngalway

DanFindy wrote: »

To the best of my knowledge if u were partially through your 4th year of REPS 3 you could not jump to REPS 4, but if u were in your final year you could.

Cheers Dan, pretty much the same situation so as my year would have been up in Jan this year and I could have applied as soon as I started my 5th year?

Curious Geroge

johngalway wrote: »

My sympathies George! I'm not even gonna ask if we've the same planner!

I don't know any more about the new scheme than what I said above, if I hear more I'll post it up

Your probably talking to someone in the know John or the journalists are using boardies for reference. Todays western people had the following :

"The continuation of the REPS payments, and the announcement that each farmer participating in the new agri-environmental scheme will receive a payment of up to €5,000"

http://www.westernpeople.ie/news/story/?trs=eyojmhsnau&cat=farming

Could be the plan is too limit the big farm incomes..

DanFindy

johngalway wrote: »

Cheers Dan, pretty much the same situation so as my year would have been up in Jan this year and I could have applied as soon as I started my 5th year?

I think so but the goalposts changed so much throughout reps 4 as regards the actual detail of the plan and the conversion/consolidation process it had to be looked at on a case by case basis, reps 3 was a perfectly good scheme and should of been tweaked a little bit to produce reps 4 not the arse of a scheme it turned out to be !!