Key Areas on Inspections
1. Know what you are being inspected for
Be clear what you are being inspected for. If you are not sure ring the local Department office or ask the Inspector before the inspection commences, under which scheme and area of cross compliance you are being inspected for.
2. What notice of inspection are you entitled to?
At the start of every inspection, the Department Inspector is obliged to introduce himself, provide identification, explain to the farmer the situation regarding notice and provide an advisory note setting out the notification details
Single Farm Payment
- Ground eligibility
- Cross compliance on nitrates, animal health, Good Agricultural & Environmental Conditions, pesticides, habitats & birds, groundwater and sludge
- Identification & registration of cattle, sheep & pigs
- Cross compliance on food hygiene, feedstuffs and animal welfare / 14 days
14 days
48 hours
No notice
Disadvantaged Areas - ground eligibility / 14 days
REPS/AEOS / No notice
Suckler Cow Welfare / 48 hours
Sheep Grassland / 48 hours
Where an inspection covers a number of areas and schemes you can request that the inspection be broken down and spread over separate days in order that you receive your full notice for each area as outlined above.
3. Land Eligibility – What is involved?
· Inspections are carried out in respect of land eligibility to verify that the actual area declared in the SFP scheme/Disadvantaged Areas scheme application form corresponds with the area farmed by the applicant and to ensure there are no overlapping claims or duplicate claims.
· It is important that farmers only apply on eligible land i.e. land subject to an agricultural activity. Exclude all ineligible land including lands under houses, farm buildings, yards, roadways, lakes, rivers, streams, woodlands, rock, scrub, furze, bog.
· In addition, the land eligibility inspection will check compliance with the necessary stocking rate criteria for Disadvantaged Areas. This has changed for 2012. Please see note on Disadvantaged Areas attached.
4. What does Cross Compliance cover?
· Cross compliance inspections may cover the 19 Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) such as cattle and sheep ID, Nitrates, Animal Welfare etc., and Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC).
5. How many inspections are carried out
· In total about 8,000 farm inspections are carried out annually made up of 5% land eligibility, of which two thirds are carried out by remote sensing, 1% or about 1,350 for GAEC and all SMRs are carried out on farm. However, 3% of farmers are checked for cattle ID and 3% of farmers for sheep ID covering 5% of sheep. In addition, the Department undertake about 1,400 nitrates on-farm inspections on behalf of local authorities/Department of the Environment.
· IFA request the Department of Agriculture to co-ordinate as many inspections as possible to avoid duplication and limit farm visits as well as ensuring that all land eligibility inspections are completed on time to allow early payments.
· IFA has made it very clear to the Minister and the Department of Agriculture that inspections cannot be allowed hold up payments.
6. Important Issues on Animal Identification and Registration
Cattle
· All animals must be tagged and registered
· All calves are tagged within 20 days of birth and registered within 7 days of tagging
· Bovine herd register up-to-date
· Animals on the farm should match the Department herd profile
· All movements, births and deaths are notified to AIMS (Animal Information and Movement System)
· Each animal has a signed passport
· For dead animals, the passport must be given to the knackery or returned to the local Department office.
· For farm-to-farm movements, it is the responsibility of the purchaser to notify the Department AIMS that the animal has moved into his herd within 7 days.
· See tolerances for cattle ID on Department website and attached
· For cattle inspections, the inspector may request the assembly of all animals. However, this may not be practical and necessary in all cases and in particular in smaller herds, in fragmented holdings and where animals are outside grazing.
Sheep
· Sheep must be tagged as per requirements. (Click on the following link) http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/animalhealthwelfare/animalidentificationmovement/nationalsheepidentificationsystem/
· Flock register and dispatch documents must be up-to-date.
· Flock reconciliation completed at end of year and recorded in the register.
· Sheep census must be completed and submitted at the end of the year.
· For farm-to-farm movements, purchaser must return a pink copy of the dispatch docket to the DVO within 7 days.
· For sheep inspections, IFA insist that the Department minimise disruption to farming activities and avoid stress on livestock on the holding as much as possible. Inspection timings should be organised to avoid carrying out inspections where lambs are young or sheep need to be brought down from hills.
Pigs
· Pigs must be tagged as per the requirements and records are being kept.
· Movement notification must be made to the National Pig Identification and Tracing System.
7. Nitrates
· Livestock manures and other organic fertiliser storage facilities are constructed and managed in a way that prevents pollution.
· All effluent must be properly diverted and collected into tanks. There should be no escape of effluent.
· There must be sufficient storage capacity, which may be measured by the inspector.
· Soiled water must be minimised and collected. Ensure clean water is diverted to a clean water outfall.
· Livestock manures and other organic fertilisers must be spread in accordance with the regulations. Prohibited spreading periods are respected.
· Buffer zones from water must be observed when spreading.
· Farmyard manure is only stored in the field during permitted spreading period.
· Green cover is provided where land is ploughed or sprayed with a non-selective herbicide after July 1st.
· Grassland is not ploughed between October 16th and 30th November.
· Maximum fertiliser rates for nitrogen and phosphorous are not been exceeded.
· Functioning gutters and down pipes in place.
· Downwards splash plate on the slurry tanker.
· It is important that all necessary records are maintained.
· A maximum of 170kg/ha of nitrogen from livestock manure is applied in any calendar year or a maximum of 250kgs/ha of nitrogen from grazing livestock, where a derogation was applied for.
· The Department will send out a Nitrogen and Phosphorous statement each year. This should be read to ensure compliance with the fertilisation limits.
8. Groundwater
· Farm chemicals and waste oils are stored and managed in a way that prevents pollution.
· Pesticides stored in marked secure cabinets.
· Fuel tanks are maintained with no evidence of discharge. Waste oils and batteries are properly disposed of.
· Dipping tanks are sound and have no outlet or valve at the base of the tank.
· Sheep dip is managed and disposed of in a way that prevents pollution.
9. Feed and Food Hygiene
· Prevent contamination of food or feed from any source.
· Ensure that feed is sourced from registered operators.
· Milking facilities are in a good state of repair, are clean and the dairy is isolated from sources of contamination.
· Milking process is carried out hygienically. In the majority of cases this will not require an inspection during the actual milking process.
· Cow housing is managed in a manner that keeps cows sufficiently clean.
· Ensure that dairy cows are in good health and that the stipulated withdraw periods are complied with in respect of cows under treatment.
· Adequate controls are in place to prevent the introduction and spread of contagious diseases.
· Ensure that vermin is adequately controlled.
· Records must be properly maintained.
10. GAEC Inspections
· There is no evidence of soil erosion e.g. severe poaching by livestock, overgrazing of lands.
· There is no evidence of soil structure being damaged by machinery e.g. misuse of machinery in water logged conditions.
· The minimum level of maintenance has been complied with e.g. management regime for permanent pasture (grazing, cutting, topping) is adequate to allow agricultural production to take place the following year.
· Tillage crops are grown under normal husbandry conditions.
· There is no damage to habitats designated as NHA, SPA or SAC.
· There is no encroachment of invasive species, spread of noxious weeds, burning of growing vegetation between March 1st and August 31st and external farm boundaries are stock proof.
11. Other Areas covered by Cross Compliance
· There are a number of other areas covered by SMR (Statutory Management Requirements) which farmers may be inspected under including:
o SMR1 – Conservation of Wild Birds (SPAs)
o SMR3 – Sewage sludge
o SMR5 – Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Flora and Fauna (SACs)
o SMR9 – Protection of plant protection products
o SMR10 – Hormones
o SMR13 – Foot and Mouth (FMD)
o SMR14 – Swine Vesicular Disease
o SMR15 – Bluetongue
o SMR 16/17/18 – Animal Welfare including calves, pigs and general