STRICT new farming guidelines are being put in place which should end overgrazing of commonage and the destruction of some of the most beautiful areas in the country due to bad farming.
Agreement has been reached on the conditions to apply for the conservation of proposed Natural Heritage Areas (NHA) under the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS), it was announced yesterday.
A statement from the Department of Agriculture said agreement on stocking densities, supplementary animal feeding and fertiliser usage had been reached between it and the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht.
It said Mr Yates, the Minister for Agriculture, and Mr Higgins, the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, had sanctioned an agreement drawn Lup by a committee they had established from State and farming bodies.
It added that the agreement had particular significance for overgrazed commonage areas in the west. It applied to blanket bogs, heaths and upland grasslands.
Mr Yates, at the ploughing events yesterday, said in relation to stocking density, the maximum number of sheep that could be kept on a farm must be set down in the REPS plan.
Where there was no environmental damage, farmers would be allowed to keep existing numbers but if there was damage there would be a requirement to reduce numbers for a specified period.
The level and period of reduction would depend on the level of environmental damage and this would be prescribed by REPS planners.
He said there would also be controls on the supplementary or "outdoor" feeding of sheep. This would be allowed on areas where it was currently practised but feeding sites must be moved every three weeks and sited on grounds with least habitat and wildlife value.
Strict guidelines would cover the use of fertilisers and herbicides. For example, he said, fertilisers could only be applied on upland grasslands on the basis of a soil test and could not be used as a basis for regenerating damaged areas.
The new conditions, said Mr Yates, would facilitate the continuation of traditional farming practices in these economically vulnerable areas.
Under the new regulations, farmers in REPS in NHA areas will qualify for an another £12 per acre in addition to the basic REPS premium of £50 per acre.
The agreement was welcomed last night by the Irish Farmers Association, which said it would allow up to 5,000 farmers to join the scheme over the next few years.
The agreement was a "far cry" from earlier proposals from the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht which would effectively have resulted in the decimation of farmers in the heritage areas, said the statement.