AEOS or replacement Reps

cronic90

HiJust a quick question on one of the AEOS measures.Wild bird cover @ €869/ha per year, here is an extract from the journal a few weeks back "Wild bird cover: €869/ha per year. Open to grassland farmers but not allowed on conacre, designated lands or commonages, or on lands where waders breed at high concentrations. Grow at least 0.5has of a wild bird seed mix each year on the same plot. If more than one hectare is to be grown, then plots must be split. Each plot must have a LPIS number. The area must be fenced from livestock. No harvesting or grazing can take place. For example, 5.7 ha (14ac) of cover, in several different plots, would attract €5,000 per year. From this would come cost of seed, establishment and fencing"Has any one looked into the costs of seed & establishment excluding fencing.must each LPIS be replanted every year of the term?What is the Minimum size for each LPIS plots ofr wild bird cover?I have some land growing christmas trees and maybe able to get this wild bird cover on the open tramlines and borders?Advice appreciated.

blue5000

get in an application on it, before biffo pulls the plug on it. Establishment is simple, 2 runs with a disc, broadcast seed and drag a harrow after you. Cost of seed I'm guessing is 12-20e an acre, watch out for pigeons hitting it before it has established.
You will probably get enough going to seed for the 2nd year and you will maybe have to reseed it year 3.
Try these guys for seed
http://www.cotswoldseeds.com/root_crops.html

long narrow strips approx 5-10m wide seem to suit the birds better as they go in and out of it beside stubbles etc

Pharaoh1

I have been growing one ha of Linnet (Reps 3) for the last few years. I sow an oats/linseed mix each year.
Cost is approx 70-80 euro for seed and a neighbour/contractor sows it for me for about 100 euro and I roll it. He ploughs it and then just sows it with the one pass. The ploughing buries all the straw and leaves it clean. The payment was 700 in reps so I suppose it leaves a net profit of 500 for the ha. I'll probably continue it if I go into the AEOS.
Its a great spot too for burning bushes etc if you are doing any winter hedge/tree cutting - a big burn the day before he ploughs it - no evidence, no worries.
I could probably do it a bit cheaper with a two year kale type crop but the oats/linseed has worked well.
Anyone any idea whether the AEOS will allow hedge planting into an existing "hedge"? Say you have an old boundary that has a few whitethorns every 20-30 metres- can you plant inbetween like the hedgerow rejuvenation in REPS?
I asked my advisor but he did'nt know.

cronic90

ThanksI have also booked an appointment with an adviser so will ask to clear up that hedging question.with this bird cover it states Each plot must have a LPIS No?How do you generate a LPIS is it an official marking scheme or can it be created by oneself?

Min

cronic90 wrote: »

ThanksI have also booked an appointment with an adviser so will ask to clear up that hedging question.with this bird cover it states Each plot must have a LPIS No?How do you generate a LPIS is it an official marking scheme or can it be created by oneself?

It is created via the area aid form.

But the advisor will help sort that out if you have already applied for the area aid.

cronic90

No I have no stock on this land so not much done with the Area Aid, Adviser slow in getting back after trying a number of times busy time of year I guess .Just thinking ahead and may have to fill it out myself!! Thats whay I'm trying to get to grips with the process. Are the LPIS needed during application or at a later date?

Min

cronic90 wrote: »

No I have no stock on this land so not much done with the Area Aid, Adviser slow in getting back after trying a number of times busy time of year I guess .Just thinking ahead and may have to fill it out myself!! Thats whay I'm trying to get to grips with the process. Are the LPIS needed during application or at a later date?

If you mark off a piece of land lets say for species rich grassland or traditional hay meadow and it is a field that is part of a bigger LPIS plot then you just mark out the field in question and you could name it plot 1 and put that on the area aid form then don't forget to subtract the area from the overall area for the LPIS plot in question.
Next year the new plot would have an LPIS number.

I hope that makes sense, but would be safer to get help, its what I did.

cronic90

Thanks for the replies..In conditions of the AEOS application form it statesRemember that you have to send in a copy of your Single Payment Scheme Farm Map with your application showing where you are going to carry out your actions.Where would I get my hands on a copy of my Single Payment Scheme Farm Maps?

Min

cronic90 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies..In conditions of the AEOS application form it statesRemember that you have to send in a copy of your Single Payment Scheme Farm Map with your application showing where you are going to carry out your actions.Where would I get my hands on a copy of my Single Payment Scheme Farm Maps?

Maps/aerial photographs were sent out a while back.

It would be a good idea to get help from an advisor/teagasc. You could contact your local department of Agriculture about the maps.

cronic90

Thanks MinLoacated the maps last night..

jjh99

hi all
just got the bill today from the planner/advisor 350 of my euros he wants???
is this normal as i have only 19 acres and he didnt even come out to the farm.
i could have done it all myself as it was my name signed on the application

mr jack

jjh99 wrote: »

hi all
just got the bill today from the planner/advisor 350 of my euros he wants???
is this normal as i have only 19 acres and he didnt even come out to the farm.
i could have done it all myself as it was my name signed on the application

€350 is a joke. Def. question this. The application form was v easy and I doubt the planner spent more than 1 hour filling it out or thinking about it. The journal repeatetly said a planner wouldn't be needed but of course ACA were saying one should be used. No more than €100 should have been charged by any planner/advisor and that includes if they visited the farm.

cronic90

350 sounds a bit much to be honest? Did they do much work for you?

jjh99

i went in for half hour, no farm visit,he marked out the three options on the maps ,filled forms and said thats it,350 quid.its a joke,

Pharaoh1

I see the independent on Tuesday reporting that the AEOS scheme will not be reopened in 2011.

Hardly seems fair. Anyone finished Reps 3 in time can get in, anyone finishing from May onwards is excluded even though the scheme was undersubscribed.
No outcry from the IFA, John Bryan over in Brussels making sure the 100k+ SFP recipients will get to keep their substantial payments. Not a mention of it when he was on Pat Kenny during the week.

Those of us to whom 5k would make a big difference apparently don't matter.


http://www.independent.ie/farming/news-features/dept-shuts-door-on-2011-aeos-applications-2201934.html

agcons

mr jack wrote: »

€350 is a joke. Def. question this. The application form was v easy and I doubt the planner spent more than 1 hour filling it out or thinking about it. The journal repeatetly said a planner wouldn't be needed but of course ACA were saying one should be used. No more than €100 should have been charged by any planner/advisor and that includes if they visited the farm.

If it was that easy why didnt everyone do it themselves? ACA reckon their members did c3500 applications, teagasc havent said how many they did but the total number of applicants is over 7500.
Personally i think its symptomatic of just how poverty stricken and short of cash farmers are that A. so many farmers signed up for such a mickey mouse and for most of the options expensive scheme and B. that people are cribbing about fees of 3-400 euro for getting the job done. If the agent is worth hiring in the first place he/she is worth paying otherwise put yourself through college , set up your own business pay your suppliers and see how long you last at 100euro a job.
I know the cash is being drained out of agriculture these past two years, between the cutbacks in the various schemes and the poor product prices but impoverishing the general agribusiness sector is not going to improve farmers incomes and will long term result in poorer quality support structures for farming.
We charged from 300 up to 600 for the AEOS, depending on whether an environmentalist signature and or farm visit was required or it could all be done in the office, this fee also included the SPS application and vat. We only sent the bills out early last week but no complants so far.

Tomjim

I went into year 5 of Reps 3 at the start of April 2010. Does this mean I will not be eligible to get into this scheme when I finish year 5.

I thought the scheme would be open for Reps 3 Participants who finish their plan next year.

Pharaoh1

Tomjim,
I'm in much the same position starting my last year in REPS 3 in September.

The independent report I referred to in an earlier post seems to indicate that the scheme is now closed and will not be open in 2011.

I suppose it will be at the discretion of the minister.
It also seems unclear whether the 10000 limit set for the scheme was per annum or a total.

agcons

Tomjim wrote: »

I went into year 5 of Reps 3 at the start of April 2010. Does this mean I will not be eligible to get into this scheme when I finish year 5.

I thought the scheme would be open for Reps 3 Participants who finish their plan next year.

This years scheme was a one off but whether or not there is something similar next year will depend on the Ministers ability to get funding from the Dept of Finance. The Dept of Ags budget should be under less pressure in 2011 because the bill for the FWM will only be half what it was in 09 and 10 plus the numbers in REPS 3 is steadily declining.
At this stage with an end of March date for your REPS 3 you should be OK but realistically given the state of both Ireland and the EUs finances you cant depend on any state subvention until until the cash is in your account.

agcons

Pharaoh1 wrote: »

Tomjim,

It also seems unclear whether the 10000 limit set for the scheme was per annum or a total.

The limit for he AEOS was 5000 per annum for 5 years from 1st jan 2011 plus a pro rata payment for whatever months are left in 2010 when they have finished processing the applications.

Pharaoh1

agcons wrote: »

The limit for he AEOS was 5000 per annum for 5 years from 1st jan 2011 plus a pro rata payment for whatever months are left in 2010 when they have finished processing the applications.

Sorry Agcons, what I meant was the limit was set at 10,000 participants.
I suppose we were given to understand that this was the limit per year and that another 10,000 would be allowed to join in each subsequent year.
As you suggest it will come down to the available funding but at this stage there are no guarantees. At least with REPS it was available to all when it was open and when it was closed that was it.
I think too that the Dept are probably surprised with the take up on the scheme and realize the if they allowed the 50,000 farmers to participate they would soon be faced with a sizeable annual bill.
I'm not sure if they really get that the income to be derived from the actual business of farming (see today's indo) is so miserable that farmers will buy into any scheme that will give them some sort of guaranteed income.