This is a subscriber-only article
The payment for water course stabilisation under the Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS) has been reduced from £6.00/m to £4.80/m.
The 20% cut applies to the third tranche of EFS and follows a review of the scheme by DAERA due to a high uptake of fencing measures among NI farmers.
Fencing contractors indicate that the new payment rate of £4.80/m will cover materials for a single EFS-eligible fence along waterways, but not labour.
Quotes from contractors generally start from £6.00/m to £6.50/m, although prices can increase further depending on the materials used and the site.
Another outcome of the DAERA review is that the payment for the drinking trough pipework measure will be almost halved from £7.77/m to £3.91/m.
Also, the water course stabilisation measure will not be available in the fourth tranche of EFS, which is due to open for applications later in the year.
Disappointing
“While I appreciate that this may be disappointing for some, the approval of the revised scheme is welcome news and enables EFS to provide continued support for the farming sector to play its part in protecting our environment,” said DAERA Minister Edwin Poots.
Water course stabilisation was understood to be the most popular measure among applicants. Other measures that involve fencing, such as hedge laying and riparian buffer strips, have not had payments rates cut in the third tranche and will be still be available in the next tranche.
A department spokesperson said that 1,903 EFS wider level agreements have now been issued to NI farmers under the third tranche of the scheme.
EFS higher level is for environmentally designated land and 209 third tranche agreements had been issued on Monday. A further 11 agreements are also being finalised.
If successful applicants want to proceed with the third tranche of EFS, they have to accept letters of offer by 5pm next Friday (27 March).
With the review delaying the roll out of the scheme, the deadline for completing most measures (except arable options) has been extended to 31 December 2020.
SHARING OPTIONS: