A complete CMP must be submitted for commonage over 10ha. Without it, farmers may not qualify for GLAS payments. The facility to submit CMPs has been available since October of last year and completed CMPs continue to be submitted on an ongoing basis. As of May, 14,827 CMPs have been submitted leaving 3,374 remaining.

In addition, the farm nutrient management plan (NMP) is one of the four core management requirements of GLAS. All GLAS III participants had to submit an NMP by 31 March 2018.

Where an NMP or a CMP is outstanding a balancing payment cannot issue for the case concerned until these requirements have been met, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said in response to a parliamentary question from Michael Fitzmaurice.

Fitzmaurice asked if staff will be put in place to complete the commonage management plans in circumstances in which the existing planner is overloaded.

Creed did not say there would be more staff, but that his Department would continue to bring this requirement to the attention of all GLAS participants.

Good news on GLAS - from Shanghai

Almost 3,500 commonage management plans yet to be submitted

While nearly 15,000 commonage management plans (CMPs) have been submitted, there are 3,374 outstanding.