This article is from page 11 of the 2013-10-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
MORE than € 4 million will be leaked out of the Clare economy in 2014 because of a drastic cut in the number of Clare farmers eligible for Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS) – formally knows as REPS.
In excess of 750 Clare farmers will come to the end of their current AEOS deal over the next 12 months, with no fresh scheme coming in 2014 following last week’s budget. The scheme, which compensated farmers for conducting environmental improvement on their land, has been dramatically cut since the start of the recession in 2007.
The lion’s share of the money allocated under AEOS payments is spent almost immediately by farmers, either on building materials or labour, meaning that this € 4 million cut will have a massive knock-on impact on the wider rural community.
“The loss of the environment scheme [AEOS] is a major blow for the county. These 750 farmers in Clare will now be spending € 4 million less in the local economy next year and that is going to effect the entire rural community. We are not talking about farmers alone here,” said Andrew Dundas, Clare IFA chairperson.
“Farmers are in a situation now where they are sending every bit of money that is coming in. You have to spend the money to be in these environment schemes and this loss will be felt by the whole comunity.”
There was some good news for Clare suckler farmers in the budget with the introduction of a € 60 calf grant. The payment will come in part from a new Beef Genomics Scheme and the Beef Data Programme and will effectively replace the old suckler scheme.
Beef or suckler farms are by far the most common form of agriculture practiced in Clare but the county’s sucker herd has fallen from a high of 76,000 in 2011 to an estimated 60,000 today.