REPS 4: Farmers Handbook - Department of Agriculture

● Do not allow cattle to get within 2.5 metres of watercourses by the end of your first year
in REPS or in any year after that. Fences must be at least 2.5 metres from the top of the
bank of the watercourse. You do not have to do this on land that is rented or leased, with
less than 5 years to run, at the start of your REPS contract.
● You must not use pesticides or organic or chemical fertilisers within 2.5 metres of the
watercourse.
Option 3B — Exclude all bovine access to watercourses.
This option will maintain and improve water quality by preventing the watercourse from being
damaged at drinking points. If you choose this option you must do the following things and
any other works your planner includes in your plan.
● Do not allow cattle any access to drinking points on any watercourses on your farm.
● Provide at least two piped drinking troughs. These troughs should be located in the field
or fields adjoining the watercourse or watercourses in question.
Option 3C — Use of Planted Buffer Zones.
This option will protect water quality by reducing the risk of nutrient loss to watercourses. If you
choose this option you must do the following things and any other works your planner includes
in your plan.
● Plant 1% of your holding – up to a maximum of 2,000 square metres – with buffer strips
along the watercourses identified in your plan.
● Plant a buffer strip at least 5 metres wide with willow and or alder or other suitable
species. The buffer strip should not come any closer than three metres from the top of
the bank of the watercourse. Plants must be spaced as follows: Willow 1.5m X 1m; Alder
2m X 1.5m.
● The site must be stock-proofed by the end of your first year in REPS and all planting must
be finished by the end of the third year.
When you and your planner are selecting sites for this option, remember the requirement to
protect habitats under Measure 4, Natura 2000 sites, NHAs and commonages.
MEASURE 3
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