End of REPS

Precision Ag Solutions - Ireland

Hungry and Naked - That' Where We'd Be Without Agriculture!

In July 2009, Teagasc announced that the REPS 4 was closed to new applicants by the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. What does it mean to the 62,000 farmers involved in the scheme? For the last 15 years, since the REPS program has been introduced in Ireland in 1994, many Irish farmers have been involved in the scheme. Over 50% of Irish agricultural producers have been involved in REPS and now the program has been cancelled due to limited funding. What does this mean for Irish farmers and for Irish environment?
The scheme has been developed to encourage environmental awareness and to minimize the negative impact of intensive agricultural practices on environmental quality. Since the REPS funds are being cut, does it mean that we should expect fast deterioration of environmental quality in Ireland in the near future? The fact is, many farmers in Ireland are struggling to make a reasonable income. So even realizing the importance of protecting environmentally-valuable land, they might be forces to utilize it in the future to support their living. Teagasc research funds are also being cut significantly.
What does the future hold for Irish agriculture? Should all the farmers just give up and stop farming? --- Hungry and Naked - That's Where We'd Be Without Agriculture! ---
Precision Ag Solutions mission is to assist Irish farmers to achieve their financial success and prosperity by providing them with scientifically-based soil nutrient management solutions. At Precision Ag Solutions we are employing state-of-the-art Precision Agriculture technologies. These technologies have been evaluated in various environmental conditions, with many different crops and soil types. Farmers that employed these Precision Agriculture techniques have been able to dramatically decrease their production costs, especially, due to more efficient fertilizer use.
Farmers are strongly encouraged to attend Intelligent Farming workshops, where they can learn to use their resources wisely and to grow high quality healthy crops with minimum input costs. Efficiency is the key to success!
For more information on Intelligent Farming workshops and services provided by Precision Ag Solutions - Ireland, please contact: Dr. Olga Walsh; Telephone: 087-415-1843; E-mail: soilmanager@hotmail.com.