The satellite monitoring of farms is set to be ramped up, with every farm to be photographed and assessed every three to five days all year round as part of plans for the next CAP.

The European Commission is pushing for a satellite monitoring system that will provide real-time land eligibility data for all farms.

At present, only 5% of farms are inspected for land eligibility annually.

This inspection process would be automatic, carried out by a computer rather than a Department inspector

Documents seen by the Irish Farmers Journal reveal that the Department of Agriculture has started scoping out the feasibility of such a system. It will require all 1.1m land parcels in the State to be continuously tracked by the EU’s satellites.

These satellite images would then be used to grade farmers’ declared area on a traffic-light system: green for eligible for payment, red for ineligible and yellow for inconclusive.

This inspection process would be automatic, carried out by a computer rather than a Department inspector. Farmers would have the opportunity to appeal decisions.

Area-based schemes

The system will apply to all area-based schemes including direct payments under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) payments and the Young Farmer Scheme.

All farms to face continuous satellite monitoring in next CAP

EU satellites to inspect farms weekly

In the next CAP, all farms face continuous monitoring of all their land parcels to check they are eligible for payment.