New Acres scheme

I looked at owl boxes, by the time you paid carriage it was 2 years payment nearly. I made my own for about 50 euro.

If you are entering this year do not opt for bird box options unless you are in an Sac/ hen harrier area

I don't think so. Only CP zone as far as I know

It's not just bird, bat or owl boxes. We as farmers need to start looking these schemes and ignoring them unless there is worthwhile payments attached for our time and effort.

When I dud bird and bat boxes in GLAS the cost of the boxes made up was about a single years payment. The owl.boxes were nearlu two years when courier charges were added. But installation of them was a nightmare. By right you would need a cherry picker to get them into position.

Bird and bat boxes were not in general Acres in 2022. I was disappointed as about 50-60% of existing boxes were still OK. I think the department and environmentalists need to understand that there must be enough in it for the farmer as well

Tge owl boxes are also suitable for Kestrels, buzzards and other bird of prey as well. Only problem is crows might nest in them as well and if they do we are supposed to clean them out the following autumn.

Mind you they are going nowhere with trying to help bird numbers until we start to control the crew population.

It has taken them twenty years to realise the deer population needs controlling and they are a grazing species unlike the crow which is a carrion species

As far as I can remember you cannot supplementary feed cattle on Acres plots. You can feed meal to sheep but troughs have to be moved to avoid poaching.

Friends in gun club have mentioned crows are over populated. One mentioned seeing 2 grey crows attacking a bird of endangered species

That sounds like what was said

Their will be a huge increase next year on the back of unharvested crops to compound the situation, theirs 1000s of crows in the fields bordering us working their way through 40 acres of unharvested spring barley

Dept won't look good not accepting 4,000 farmers into an environmental scheme. I think Minister will try and find the €30m needed. Think it's better odds than putting it on a horse. The money return is 50:1, I think the odds are better than even.

500 eu for plan.no annual fee as no farm visits .records can be filled up by yourself as they dont have to be submitted to dept ,only filled in and kept up to date .

That's fine, but there's a lot of machinery, stock and tractors changing hands this month on the promise of payment this side of Christmas. I bought a trailer yesterday and have other big bills to sort before year end.

If the Organic payment is similarly delayed there'll be rank disappointment around.

Have you anything other than hedgerow?

Theres every possibility that they may adjust-reduce the payment structure re max amount that can be drawn in tranch 2 to try and accomodate as many as possible to get into acres scheme.we have seen this before in reps and glas the latter by reducing the most popular options for those entering after tranch 1.This would also be a factor with an election looming in' 24 or '25 at latest.