In the case of hedgerow field boundaries, the margin must extend 2.5 metres from the external boundary of the hedgerow.

The margin must be fenced to keep livestock out.

You must not apply fertilisers or pesticides within the margin.

The margin must be maintained. It can be mowed or lightly grazed at least once a year, but not before 1st August. If it is grazed, the animals must be grazed for the minimum time required to control the vegetation. The margin must not be damaged.

Broadleaved Tree Planting.Code EC03 - Woodland Wild Flower Mixture

Rare breeds.

Attracts an annual payment of €200 per LU up to 10 L.U. – Native breeds of cattle, sheep & horses only.

Species rich wildflower meadows will provide nutrients and trace elements that grassland alone cannot,

Laying of Hedgerows Code EC04 - Hedgerow Wild Flower Mixture

Min-Till (Minimum Tillage) Min-Till (minimum tillage) means sowing crops without inverting the soil. The soil cannot be ploughed. You can choose this measure on tillage land if you undertake to establish crops by this method on the same full LPIS plots in each year of your contract. You must show the plots on the map.

Riparian Margins Code EC05 - Wetland Wild Flora (Seasonally Flooded)

You can choose this measure if you have watercourses on your land, but you cannot choose it on commonage. A watercourse is an open channel that has water in it for at least nine months of the year. You must establish and maintain a fenced-off margin of a set width along the watercourses you choose and you must show them on the map. You must choose the width of the margin when you apply for AEOS. The margin width is measured from the top of the bank

Watercourses. adjoining stretches of the watercourse.

The area must be permanently fenced to prohibit livestock access from the outset of the AEOS contract, unless your river is a designated SAC and fencing is not allowed. You should provide suitable entry points for maintenance, and for fishing if you need them.

Traditional Dry Stone Wall Maintenance Code EC13 - Wild Flora for Stone Walls

Sow seed mixture EC11 over the top of the wall and where soil pockets occur

Dry stone walls are walls built with using stones that sit comfortably and are balanced without the use of mortar and built in a style traditional to the locality. You cannot choose this Measure on commonage.

The location of the walls you are going to maintain must be marked on the map.If walls have fallen or partly collapsed, you must rebuild them in the same style as other walls in the locality.

Traditional Irish Orchards.............Wildflower Ecotype Seed Mixture Code EC02 - Wild Flora & Forbes for Sapling Trees and Orchards

Undersow the orchard with Wildflower seed mixture EC02, this will restrict grasses and attract beneficial insect.

For this Measure, you must plant a traditional top-fruit orchard from the list of traditional Irish fruit tree varieties below.

If possible, you should use varieties traditionally grown in your area.

The specific varieties selected for planting can be purchased from any source. To claim your payment, you will need documentary proof (like an invoice) of the specific variety and the rootstock on which it is grown.

All trees must be planted before the end of the first planting season (winter) after you join the scheme. You must fence the site from the beginning. You must choose a full LPIS plot and mark it on the map.

Sustainable optimum stocking rates

Blanket Bogs, Code MM05 Peat-lands or Soil with a high peat conten

Blanket Bogs, Heaths and Upland Grasslands Code MM05 Peat-lands or Soil with a high peat conten

Sand Dune and Machair Areas Code EC06- Seaside Wildflora

Farming Conditions for the Conservation of River SACs Code EC05 - Wetland Wild Flora (Seasonally Flooded)

Wet Grasslands, including Callows, Wet Lowland Grassland, Fens and Marshes.Code EC05 - Wetland Wild Flora (Seasonally Flooded)

Mowing GF07 Cut and Sow. Sow direct into existing meadow or lawns

In areas where the corncrake prescription does not apply mowing shall not be commenced before 30th June unless the land has been managed in the past that there is little diversity of plants. Any exceptions to this must be explained in the farm plan.

"Mowing" includes topping, grass chaining or rolling.

Priority Wild Bird Habitats (Corncrake Measure)

Restricted and Prohibited Practices

The following practices must not be carried out on Blanket Bogs, Heaths or Upland

Grasslands: Farm Wildflower mixtures

1.The areas must not be drained, ploughed, cultivated or reseeded.

2.There must be no infilling or rock removal.

3.Turf cutting on unexploited bogs is not permitted. Turf cutting for domestic use is permitted on existing banks.

4.Planting of trees or other crops is not permitted.

5.No new tracks or paths can be created.

6.Burning is only allowed as a planned management practice.

7.Gorse may be controlled by cutting, spot spraying or exceptionally by burning outside of the bird nesting season (March 1st to August 31st).

CONDITIONS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF SAND DUNE AND MACHAIR

AREAS  Code EC06- Seaside Wildflora

The primary recommendation is to avoid farming practices that cause environmental damage and all the following recommendations are designed to meet that objective. If a practice is environmentally damaging it must be stopped or modified, but the following are general guidelines and may be superseded by specific recommendations for individual farms.

Detailed Conditions for Sand Dunes and Machairs Code EC06- Seaside Wildflora

Description Sand Dunes and Machairs are coastal habitats consisting of hills and hollows in which unique communities of plants and animals are found in response to the very demanding nature of the dry, windy and salty environment.Machairs are flat, level plains over lime-rich sands which have evolved in response to a unique interaction between wind, high rainfall and historical land use. They are found only in western Ireland and Scotland.

Grazing Regime. It should be noted that on sand dunes and machairs, the objective is to maintain extensive agricultural practices, and to prevent a further increase in stock numbers.

Cattle stock must be kept at the level the land can support - see also the section on Supplementary Feeding.

Cattle grazing should continue in line with traditional practices. The land should normally be grazed only in winter. However, in areas where Summer grazing has traditionally (i.e. over the previous 10 years) been practised, this can continue, provided, of course, that stock levels at all times do not exceed what the land can bear on a sustainable basis. Grazing on young and fore-dune areas should be avoided. Where conditions warrant, grazing levels must not exceed 1 Livestock Unit (LU) per hectare on a year round average and must never exceed 2 LU at any one time. This change would enable 2 LUs to be overwintered on the sand dune/ machair provided it is deemed to be sustainable by the planner.

The introduction of sheep into areas where they have not been traditionally grazed should be avoided, but areas which have kept sheep traditionally can retain them, though perhaps at a lower level.

Sustainable stocking levels. Stocking levels for each farm should be set by the planner in the farm plan. The levels should be set below the level which causes eutrophication, overgrazing, or erosion, but still high enough to control the encroachment of coarse vegetation and scrub. Where the stock level set by the planner requires a reduction, this must be achieved within 12 months of the start of the plan. Where the stock level is to increase, this can be spread over the period of the plan, as specified by the planner. Where a conservation plan has been prepared for the SAC in question, this should be used to assist in determining where damage has occurred or is occurring, where damage is moderate, and where damage has not occurred.

Official conservation plans, when available, can be obtained from the local office of the NPWS.

Supplementary feeding 

The introduction of supplementary feeding can bring additional nutrients into sand dune and machair areas, and thus bring about a very fundamental change in the vegetation of these areas. The use of silage and other feed can facilitate excessive stocking levels and may lead to pollution of groundwater. Consequently, the use of any supplementary feeds in areas where it has not been customary over the last ten years may be allowed only in consultation with NPWS.

Round-baled silage can be stored in these areas. Loose silage can only be stored where an approved effluent collection system is in place and the effluent is removed from the machair/sand dune.

No supplementary feeding can take place on young and fore-dune areas.

In machair and grey dune areas where supplementary feed has been used over the last 10 years it may be continued, provided that

1.The number of LUs fed does not increase

2.The species of stock fed does not change

3.The total amount of feed equivalent does not increase

4.The amount of feed does not exceed 3.5 tonnes of silage or 0.75 tonnes of hay per LU

5.No meals and concentrates are fed.

However, in exceptional circumstances, such as in unusually severe weather conditions (i.e., when there are heavy snowfalls or floods), and with the agreement of NPWS, feeding will be permitted. Weanling cattle may be fed small quantities of concentrates.

Cultivation, reseeding and pesticides, Code EC06- Seaside Wildflora

Ploughing, harrowing or any other form of cultivation must be avoided since this will destabilise the dune structure. Small traditional tillage plots on machairs may be retained. The bringing in of any seeds to these areas will disturb the vegetative balance on which the dune depends and must be avoided. The feeding of hay should only be from round feeders.

The fixed dune parts of sand dunes are essentially areas with low levels of plant nutrients in the soil and this has contributed to the development of their distinctive flora. These are also areas most used for grazing. However, the spreading of organic (slurry, FYM), or inorganic fertilisers must not take place as the flora in these areas would be damaged.

On machairs, where fertiliser has not been applied in the past, none can be applied now. However, where low levels of phosphorus have traditionally been applied on machairs, this may continue, provided that the soil Phosphorus levels do not increase above their present levels or in any event do not exceed Soil Index 2.