The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) has taken aim at the Minister for Agriculture over Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) 2 rules, saying that they could be “catastrophic” for the livelihoods of small farmers.
GAEC is a set of European Union (EU) standards which are targeted at achieving sustainable agriculture. GAEC 2 is a baseline minimum requirement aimed at protecting carbon rich soils. In Ireland, the grass-based system already provides significant protection for such soils and they are also protected by existing national planning provisions, for example, on drainage.
According to the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), GAEC-2 will apply to up to 35,000 farmers. While the measures may not impact on many farming activities in 2025, there are concerns that it will increasingly impact farmers into the future.
The IFA has said that GAEC-2 will have a disproportionate impact on Irish farms. The organisation has said that the provisions are going to be “problematic” for Irish farmers due to the amount of peat soil. It said that farmers are only being informed of the measures “at the eleventh hour” and that the option of removing it or deferring it at EU level would be the best outcome.
Last month, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine faced calls for clarification around which lands will be subject to further restrictions under the implementation of a new conditionality measure under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS). The scheme was announced in January, with the department highlighting changes around some Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs).
GAEC 2 (protecting peatlands and wetlands) will be applicable in 2025. Those impacted would be notified in due course regarding the land parcels affected and the obligations applying to those land parcels, the department said.
“The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA) wants to express our extreme dissatisfaction with your position on the proposed definition of a standard for GAEC 2 [Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions] in Ireland’s context,” the letter reads.
“As minister your decision to support a position that extends far beyond the legal requirements laid down by the European Union is both unacceptable and unjust.”
The letter, from Pheilim Molloy, chair of INHFA on behalf of INHFA National Council, further details how the EU provided Ireland with a two-year period to identify peatland and wetland areas correctly, allowing for mapping to be undertaken. However, it claims that the outcome was disregarded.
“After investing significant time and resources into this process, your department chose to disregard the outcome, we believe, in order to protect the interests of intensive agriculture and forestry at the expense of 35,000 farmers along the western seaboard and across the country.”
“This is a gross injustice to those who depend on fair agricultural policies for their livelihoods.”
‘CATASTROPHIC FOR FARMERS’
It says that some areas have been wrongly classified, adding:
“The real reason behind your department’s stance is evident in our opinion – by adopting a percentage-based approach, it has manipulated the definition to ensure that if less than 50% of a parcel consists of peatland, it is excluded from GAEC 2, while if less than 50% consists of mineral soils, it is unnecessarily included in GAEC 2.
“The result of this manipulation will be catastrophic for farmers affected by the proposal, with over 100,000ha of mineral soils wrongly classified under GAEC 2.”
According to the letter, the classification imposes unnecessary planning restrictions on these lands, effectively halting development and limiting agricultural activities, such as agri-forestry, native woodland establishment and specific actions under ACRES [Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme] involving hedgerow establishment and native tree planting.
“It will also impact fertiliser use and type which will reduce output. Meanwhile, the real beneficiaries of the department’s actions are the intensive agricultural and forestry sectors, with over 200,000ha of peatlands conveniently escaping GAEC 2 obligations,” Molloy adds.
The letter further says that a “dangerous precedent” has been set; one which the INHFA feels encourages overreach in delivering on EU regulation in Ireland’s context.
“The perception here is that big business interests have seized this moment to manipulate the mapping process to their benefit, ensuring that obligations fall on the small family farms, rather than those engaged in intensive agricultural practices,” it adds.
“BLANTANT OVERREACH”
“Minister, the INHFA has no choice but to take a strong public stance against this blatant overreach.
“The inclusion of mineral soils under GAEC 2 is wholly unjustified and undermines the very purpose of this standard, which the EU intended to apply specifically to peatland and wetland.
“We demand that you immediately halt the current proposal and negotiate a fair and just position for Ireland in relation to GAEC 2. We urge you minister to reconsider your stance and act in the best interest of all farmers, not just those who wield the greatest economic influence.”
‘THIS WILL ADD TO THE BURDEN’
Earlier this month, President of the Irish Farmers Association Francie Gorman said Minister Martin Heydon should have sought a further delay of the implementation of GAEC 2 from the EU Commission. He said this would have allowed it to be considered under promised simplification measures being designed by the EU.
“The IFA has been lobbying on this issue since 2021 and its implementation was postponed in 2023 and 2024. The Minister should have stood up to the Commission and looked for it to be reconsidered as part of the much-promised simplification package,” Mr Gorman said.
“The EU Commission had threatened Ireland with fines, but at the same time they keep talking about simplification and reducing bureaucracy.
“The Minister should have sat down with the new Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen and given him a chance to deliver on his simplification promises. Farmers meet very onerous regulations as it stands and this will add to the burden,” he said.
CLARIFICATION SOUGHT ON WHERE GAEC APPLIES
In January, the department said that the introduction of BISS was expected to have minimal impact on the day-to-day operations of farmers. However, MEP for Ireland South, Independent Ireland’s Michael McNamara, has called on the department to clarify which lands would be subject to further restrictions under the implementation of GAEC 2 measures.
“Despite the lack of clarity on the land parcels on which appropriate minimum standards will apply – including ‘a ban on ploughing, or the use of minimum tillage [min till]/no tillage [no till] cultivation technique’, according to Ireland’s Common Agricultural Policy [CAP] Strategic Plan – the department has launched the [BISS] for applications,” McNamara said.
He also added that he felt that the GAEC 2 measure has been “hastily” added to the BISS conditionality before the required clarity has been provided, and that the inclusion of the condition would only “add to farmers’ frustrations.”
“Over regulation is already causing clear irritation among farmers, as well as significant costs at farm level. Further terms and conditions to be implemented by farmers who do no know whether their lands will be subjected to additional restrictions adds considerably to the frustrations that farmers are currently feeling,” McNamara said.