There was a 90% increase in the number of penalties handed out by DAERA inspectors during visits to NI farms last year.

Figures obtained by the Irish Farmers Journal show that rules were rigorously enforced in 2021, with 561 breaches found during cross-compliance inspections, up from 294 the year before.

Over a third of all infringements were for the Statutory Management Requirement on cattle identification and registration (SMR7).

There was a four-fold increase in the number of breaches recorded for SMR1, which relates to the protection of water against nitrates pollution.

A sharp rise was seen in the number of penalties handed out for animal welfare rules, known as SMR13. There were 50 fines under this set of rules during 2021, up from just three breaches the year before.

There was also a surge in penalties for landscape features rules (GAEC7), which includes the likes of removing hedgerows without receiving consent from DAERA. Inspectors from DAERA gave out 95 fines for these rules last year, up from just seven fines the year before.

DAERA figures show there were 17 breaches last year for GAEC1, which covers rules on spreading slurry near waterways. This compares to just one fine for GAEC1 the year before.

The level of fines applied to NI farmers for rule breaches varies significantly. For example, of the 183 breaches recorded for these nitrates rules, over three-quarters resulted in penalties which were 3% or less, of each farmer’s Basic Payment.

However, much larger fines were applied in some cases as DAERA figures show eight farmers lost more than 20% of their payment for breaking nitrates rules.

Inspections

In both the 2020 and 2021 scheme years, Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots announced that fewer farm inspections would be carried out by his staff to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

However, it appears this did not apply to checks on cross-compliance, which is the plethora of rules that farmers need to comply with to be eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme.

Figures obtained from DAERA show that the number of cross-compliance inspections conducted on local farms in 2021 was the highest seen for several years. There were 1,554 inspections last year, compared to 1,242 in 2020 and 1,419 inspections in 2019.

Most of these inspections were conducted on farms that were already seen by DAERA as being at risk of breaking the rules. For example, there were 514 cattle identification checks carried out last year but only 28 of these farms were randomly selected for inspection.

Land eligibility

There have been fewer land eligibility checks in recent years and these inspections have resulted in fewer fines.

Land eligibility inspections involve checking that land claimed for Basic Payment is in good agricultural and environmental condition.

There were 267 land inspections last year which led to 20 penalties.

It compares to 243 checks and 33 penalties the year before and, in 2019, there were 1,205 inspections which led to 91 fines.