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Satellite inspections of farms could soon be ramped up to every three to five days all year round, according to work under way by the Department of Agriculture.
Documents seen by the Irish Farmers Journal show that the Department envisages a system that extracts the latest satellite data for all 1.1m land parcels in the State every three to five days.
It would then use these satellite images to grade farmers’ land parcels on a traffic light system: green for eligible for payment, red for ineligible and yellow for inconclusive.
The move comes as the European Commission pushes for a satellite monitoring system that will provide real-time payment eligibility data for all farms.
Existing CAP rules require at least 5% of all farmers to face a land eligibility inspection annually.
These inspections could soon be a thing of the past, replaced by an area monitoring system for 100% of farmers.
New CAP
Under the proposed new CAP, all member states must introduce a system that provides “regular and systematic observation, tracking and assessment of agricultural activities and practices on agricultural areas”.
It will operate using the EU’s Copernicus Sentinel satellites.
The Department of Agriculture has begun scoping out the feasibility of the system.
The move would be a huge change from the current system, where the Department is obliged to inspect only 5% of applicants to area-based schemes such as the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC).
These are currently split into 4% satellite inspections and 1% ground inspections.
Reviews and appeals
Under the traffic-light system for land parcel eligibility, the reasons why a parcel is deemed eligible or ineligible would be stored to allow the decision to be audited or reviewed.
In inconclusive cases, farmers could be asked to submit geo-tagged photos from their phone to the Department to prove that their parcel was, in fact, eligible.
The European Commission’s intention to have member states move to continuously and automatically track and trace activities on all declared farms is aligned with its move towards a CAP based on performance rather than compliance.
The increased satellite observations will increase the level of scrutiny on farmers. However, it could also have some benefits.
Currently, farmers only discover they have declared ineligible land if they are inspected. They then face a delay to their payment and the possibility of a financial penalty.
Even in cases where no issues are identified, farmers’ payments are often held up until the inspection process is complete.
The proposed new system of continuous monitoring could allow farmers to correct issues as they occur and prevent them falling foul of the rules.
What is Copernicus and why does it matter to farmers?
Copernicus, known as “Europe’s eyes on Earth”, is the EU’s earth observation programme. It is jointly managed by the European Commission and the European Space Agency.
For agriculture, two satellites, Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B, orbit on opposite sides of the earth almost 800km above its surface. Together, they can complete a new image of the globe every five days.
These images can be used to detect land use, changes in land cover and the state of the vegetation.
At present, the Department of Agriculture uses these images to complete 6,500 ‘remote inspections’. In the high-resolution images, each pixel equates to a 50cm diameter section of a farm.
This makes it possible on a clear day to see farm features like water troughs.
Crop changes like cutting of silage, hedges, trees and landscape features like ponds, old forts and farm buildings and vehicles are easy to see.
A Department inspector can compare these images with the land parcel identification system (LPIS) to ensure all declared area by a farmer is eligible for payment.
Inspections
In cases where there is doubt of the eligibility of an area, such as a field margin where an overhanging tree obscures the field, geo-tagged photos can be used. These contain the date, time and exact location the photo was taken to prove a field meets the required conditions.
The move by the EU to expand the use of satellite monitoring to all areas applied for under land-based schemes could be just the first step. Regular imaging could allow date-specific scheme measures, such the restriction on cutting low-input permanent pasture in GLAS before 1 July, to be monitored.
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