REPS 3 may benefit 50,000 farms

THE enhanced Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) will play a pivotal role on more than 50,000 farms over the coming years, a Teagasc national conference was told in Tullamore, Co Offaly, yesterday.

Eugene Ryan, Head of REPS with Teagasc, said the new REPS 3 has the attraction of an increase of 30% in payments to farmers together with the opportunity to participate in a range of environmental enhancement activities.

“For a 40 ha (100 acres) farm, the basic REPS payment is now €7,500 a year for five years. Attractive additional payments are also available for farmers who adopt supplementary environment improvement measures.”