01 November 2024

Active Farmer Checks

Eamonn Dempsey outlines eligibility requirements for BISS payments, focusing on agricultural activity, active farmer checks, and land maintenance rules.

For an area to be deemed eligible for BISS payment, it must be an agricultural area used for an agricultural activity. As part of Ireland’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) strategic plan, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) will conduct an annual "active farmer" check to ensure that the recipient of scheme payments is the person actually farming the land.

During the completion of the BISS application earlier this year, farmers were asked to indicate on their application how they intended to actively farm in the year ahead, e.g., by making hay, silage, haylage, or by purchasing livestock. The active farmer check will involve administrative checks by the Department of Agriculture to verify agricultural activity and may require the farmer to submit evidence of the activity taking place on the land.

For most livestock farmers, once the DAFM verifies the Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system, as well as the sheep, goat, and equine censuses, and confirms that the farmer satisfies the minimum stocking rate of 0.1 LU/Hectare, they are deemed active farmers. For tillage-only farmers, the DAFM will request receipts for seed, fertilizer, contractors, etc., in the farmer’s name.

When satisfying the active farmer checks, farmers must also consider land type. For example, a farmer with commonage must have suitable owned livestock to graze the commonage. In addition, farmers who declare commonage on their BISS application must, if requested, be able to provide evidence of their right to declare the land, such as the relevant folio from the land registry showing their share in the lands. In the case of an appurtenant grazing right, they must also be claiming the relevant lowland.

Short-term grazing of lands is allowed; however, the applicant farming the land on 31st May 2024 and who declares the land on their BISS application is the person eligible to receive area-based payments, such as BISS, ECO, and CRISS. An applicant can enter a short-term grazing agreement from the start of the year to 30th May or from 1st June to the end of the year. Lands rented out for short-term grazing will NOT qualify for ANC payment.

Under land eligibility rules, land does not need to be burned to be eligible, as long as there is agricultural activity taking place on the parcel. However, where land has been burned between 1st March and 31st August, it is not in a state suitable for grazing and is therefore not eligible for the remainder of the year. However where controlled burning is carried out in compliance with all relevant environmental legislative requirements the land will remain eligible.

For fragmented farms where some land parcels are at long distances and no agricultural activity or maintenance (e.g., topping or mulching) is taking place, these parcels are considered abandoned land and are ineligible for payment. The department may also request the farmer to provide a geotagged photo of the agricultural activity or any ineligible area within a parcel.

Farmers and advisors alike have become familiar with AgriSnap, a geotagged photograph application (app) for use on smartphones and mobile devices. AgriSnap enables users to take geotagged photographs and submit them to the DAFM in an efficient manner. All land types—whether upland, lowland, or commonage—must not only support agricultural activity but also be maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition to qualify for scheme payments.