Balancing farming with conservation

Donal Hickey examines changes to the REPS scheme.

WHEN people who grew up in the Irish countryside return after long absences to places they knew in childhood they are often quite shocked at the changes they see.

Gone are many of the ditches, hedgerows, trees and fields they had been familiar with it. Instead, there’s the spectacle of amalgamated fields, electric fences, staked paddocks and endless piles of black, plastic bales.