Up to €10,500 on average over five years is on offer for farmers who take part in the newly launched Mulkear European Innovation Partnership (EIP).

The scheme focuses on finding ways to improve water quality on farmland that borders the Mulkear or parts of the river network.

“The expected average is about €10,500 over the course of their [farmer] involvement over the five years,” project manager of the scheme Ruairí Ó Conchúir told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“What that means is that farmers will receive up to that, some farmers will receive less than that and more farmers will receive significantly more than that.

“To some extent, it does depend on the river frontage that the individual farmer has or the channels and streams that are feeding into the main channels.”

Funding

The project has been awarded €1.2m in funding from the Department of Agriculture and covers 650km² across Limerick and Tipperary – two counties with some of the highest numbers of dairy cows in Ireland.

Water quality has been highlighted as a major concern by the river basin management plan and Ó Conchúir pointed out that while water quality was largely good in the area, it had still been classed as “at risk” in the plan.

Farmers are often told that the renewal of the nitrates directive hinges on improving water quality and it was clear that agricultural bodies supported the scheme, with the involvement of both Teagasc and Dairygold.

Farmer-driven

The involvement of the farmer was repeated as being central to the scheme.

“This is farmer-led – we’re not listening to tick-box men in Brussels,” secretary of the scheme David Thompson said.

This was echoed by Ó Conchúir, who said that farmers would be required to undertake a nutrient management plan to assess what actions they were willing to take, with payments based on a measurable rewards system.

In total, the scheme has 60 places available and is taking 20 farmers on board over the next three years.

Applications and more information can be found by clicking here.

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