Department set to clamp down on map acres

The Department of Agriculture is planning a significant clampdown this year on farmers using “map acres” for the purpose of increasing the value of their area-based payments.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that Department officials briefed advisers in the last fortnight and issued a warning against farmers claiming payments on land they are not actually farming.

Advisers were told that while there are no changes to the rules in this regard, there will be extra checks to identify if farmers have manipulated conditions to inflate their payments.

Penalties

Where it is identified that the land being claimed on is not being farmed by the applicant, the Department officials said payments may be stopped and penalties applied.

It is understood the webinar heard in some of the more extreme cases it is the right of the Department to issue legal action on the grounds of fraud.

Advisers were also told to caution their clients against putting sons or daughters on their herd number to claim young farmer reliefs where these children are not in a position to farm the land, for example, if they are living abroad.

Map acres

At the webinar ahead of the bulk of Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) applications being submitted, screenshots of map acres being sought and sold on Done Deal were presented to advisers.

It is understood advisers were strongly cautioned to take care and be vigilant on map acres and told that if they were to knowingly put them through their farm advisory system (FAS) approval could be in jeopardy. Officials warned that there will be more activity in 2025 around checking farmers have documentation to prove they have the right to farm land they are claiming on. It was said the most common form of proving this are folios, leases and conacre rental agreements, but other forms of evidence are also accepted.