REPS 4-organic payments boost

THE REPS 4-organic combination will be worth more than €10,000 a year to a 100-hectare organic tillage farmer.

According to Teagasc research officer Ger Shortle, if a 100-hectare stockless tillage farmer was to go into REPS 4, with 55 hectares organic and 2.5 hectares in the LINNET supplementary measure, total payments over five years would come to €99,610.

If the same farmer took the non-REPS option, with the maximum of 40 hectares organic, and qualified for the green manure payment, total payments would come to €48,720 over five years. In this case, there would be no REPS restrictions on the remaining 60 hectares.