Irish plan to use GPS-controlled fertiliser spreaders assessed as 'Greenwashing'
Eco-schemes include measures to improve soil fertility, such as soil sampling, crop diversification, and sowing multispecies swards.
From 2023, farmers must undertake actions beneficial to the climate, biodiversity and the environment, in return for 25% of their EU direct income support.
Across the EU, these eco-schemes include leaving aside a set percentage of farmland for nature, more extensive livestock production, limiting chemical nitrogen usage, planting native trees, soil sampling and appropriate liming, crop diversification, or sowing multi-species swards.
However, environmentalists say that fewer than a fifth of the eco-schemes are likely to deliver on their stated environmental objectives. The World Wide Fund for Nature, European Environmental Bureau, and BirdLife Europe, together assessed the 166 eco-schemes currently proposed in 21 member states.
They concluded that only 19% of eco-schemes are likely to deliver on their stated environmental objectives; 40% would need significant improvements to be effective, and 41% are completely misaligned.
The WWF, Birdlife Europe, and the EEB also said many well-designed eco-schemes are either underfunded or likely to be outcompeted by less demanding and/or more financially attractive schemes.
Their assessment is based on draft CAP strategic plans and information available as of mid-November, 2021. The draft plans are subject to further changes, before their formal submission to the European Commission at the end of this year.
The three environmental organisations used a four-category rating system from best to worst of 'Likely to deliver', 'Needs improving', 'Concerning', or 'Greenwashing'.
Ireland’s eco-scheme option of applying chemical fertiliser with a GPS-controlled fertiliser spreader was assessed as Greenwashing. The organisations said this is one of the precision farming eco-schemes across the EU which they believe are the worst examples of non-delivering environmental measures, with no benchmarks or requirements for actual input reductions.
Ireland was praised as one of only three countries (along with Germany and Poland) intending to use eco-schemes to support agroforestry or tree planting, which the organisations said is a crucial climate mitigation and adaptation strategy with many co-benefits. However, they said the Irish proposals of planting a set amount of hedgerow, or three to six native trees, per eligible hectare, 'needs improving'.
On eco-schemes for high-diversity landscape features (the single most common type of measure proposed across the EU), the organisations said there are also concerns, for example in Ireland, that most farmers will be paid for existing landscape features of variable quality, and there is no focus on improving the quality.
On the proposed eco-scheme support in Ireland for non-productive areas and landscape features reaching 7% of a farm, the organisations said some productive elements are still included, while certain landscape features (wet grasslands, heaths, ponds, etc) are not. This was rated as 'needs improving'.
On the proposed eco-scheme supports in Ireland for extensive livestock production (the stocking rate over the previous year must be between 0.15 and 1.5 livestock units per hectare) and for chemical nitrogen usage limited annually, the organisations said there was not enough information to judge these proposals.
In the new CAP starting in January 2023, for Irish farmers, it is proposed either of two individual eco-scheme practices will on their own result in full payment. They are: committing 10% or more of a farm holding to “space for nature”, and doubling up on “planting of native trees” (six trees or two metres of hedgerow per eligible hectare).
Or farmers can qualify for full payment by carrying out two of the other eight proposed eco-scheme practices. They include soil sampling and, where appropriate, liming on all eligible hectares, which can be chosen once every three years. Or a farmer with a crop diversification requirement can plant a break crop (beans, peas, oilseed rape or oats) as their second or third crop. “Sowing a Multi-Species Sward”, on at least 6% of eligible hectares is another option.
Ireland’s eco-schemes make up the third biggest part of the new draft 2023-27 CAP, in monetary terms, at €1.5bn. Farmers can opt-in or out on an annual basis.
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