Promotion & Improvement
The Ministry for Agriculture may establish a General Agricultural Advisory Committee to advise on the administration of the [1949 Act]. It may also constitute committees, deemed necessary from time to time, to advise on matters in the agricultural field, including agricultural education and stock improvement. The Ministry shall consult organizations representing the interests of farmers before appointing the committee.
The Departments shall provide colleges and institutions for instructing individuals in agriculture and related subjects. The Ministry may create Schemes providing for the payment of grants to individuals on courses or those providing courses in such institutions.
Provisions may also be made for the payment of scholarships or other forms of assistance to enable individuals to receive instruction at schools, colleges, or institutions provided by the Ministry or to undertake research in subjects specified in the Scheme. Departments cover agriculture and related areas, including food, manufacture, marketing, supply, veterinary science, use of agricultural equipment, technology, and practices, protection of the natural rural environment, rural development and enterprise, forestry, fisheries, and applied science related to the above.
Fees may be charged in relation to agricultural instruction in accordance with their Scheme and regulations for such a purpose. Regulations may specify the amount of fees, the matters to which they relate, the persons for whom they are payable, and provisions for the remission of fees.
With the approval of the Ministry for Finance, the Department may create Schemes or make payments on such terms and conditions as specified in the Scheme for grants to occupiers of agricultural land for the purpose of land reclamation for agricultural use, including drainage of such land, water supply for agricultural land and buildings (not being dwelling-houses), where suitable purity for domestic use is available, and for dwelling-houses occupied as farmhouses or by agricultural workers. This also includes the purchase and installation of machinery for generating electricity for use in agricultural buildings and dwelling-houses where supply is not likely to be available from a distribution main.
Provisions are made for access to and from agricultural land, buildings, and turf bogs, construction and reconditioning of flax dams, and other purposes that the Ministry deems will increase the fertility of the land or the productive capacity of a farm or as necessary for the more efficient operation of the farm.
The Department may provide goods and services, including advisory services, available to individuals farming agricultural land or marketing or distributing agricultural produce, and make advisory services available. The consent of the Ministry of Finance is required. When making goods available, the Department, as far as practicable, uses normal trade facilities deemed appropriate. Charges may be made for the goods and services provided.
At the request of and by agreement with the occupier of any agricultural land, the Department may carry out drainage or reclamation works on the land using excavators or other machinery apparatus and may recover the whole or part of the cost as it determines.
With the approval of the Department of Finance, the Department may create Schemes for aiding, improving, and developing the breeding of horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, other livestock, and poultry. Schemes may include the purchase of animals for improving breeds and making animals available for stud purposes, hiring and hire-purchase of animals for stud purposes, payment of premiums for selected animals, payment of grants for carriage, insurance, and other expenses related to selected animals, and the keeping of registers and records of specified animals, their progeny, and issue, subject to payments specified under the Scheme.
The Ministry may propagate or arrange the propagation of new species or varieties of any plant or crop. Arrangements made by the Department with any person for the propagation of a species or variety of plant or crop may provide for payment to the Department on terms specified in the arrangement.
The Department, with the approval of the Department of Finance, may make grants on such terms and conditions as it deems fit to any society, association, institute, or club for the purpose of holding agricultural, horticultural, poultry, farm produce, and industrial shows, displays, and exhibitions, or other exhibitions or competitions as may be determined. It may also pay to any association, institute, or club, not being a for-profit organization, which has among its objectives the development of agriculture, horticulture, or apiculture or any branch thereof, or the welfare or training of farmers or agricultural workers.
The legislation contains provisions by which the Department can ensure good husbandry of agricultural land. Agricultural land is considered to be maintained in good condition if it has been farmed in accordance with the rules of good husbandry, having regard to its nature, situation, and other relevant circumstances, including local farming methods, to maintain a reasonable standard of efficient production in terms of produce quantity and quality, while keeping it in a condition to enable such standards to be maintained in the future.
In determining whether land is being maintained in accordance with the above criteria, regard is to be given not only to the extent to which soil fertility is being maintained but also to the protection and treatment of crops and pasture and to the general care, upkeep, and management of the farm as a whole for the purposes of the particular type of farming carried out on the farm.
Where the Department believes that agricultural land is not being maintained in good condition or farmed in accordance with the rules of good husbandry, it may, after giving the occupier an opportunity to make representations in writing or orally, serve an improvement notice on the occupier. An improvement notice is registrable in the Land Registry, and representations may be made by the owner or occupier, persons holding under agistment or conacre in respect of the notice.
While an improvement notice is in effect in relation to agricultural land, any additional land occupied by the same occupier and farmed in conjunction with it may, if the Ministry determines, be subject to the improvement notice and be registered accordingly. This provision does not impose any liability on the occupier for the additional land before the commencement of their occupation.
An appeal may be made against an improvement notice within one month, which may be made to the County Court. The County Court may uphold, modify, or annul the notice. The County Court is assisted by two assessors, one appointed by the Department of Agriculture and one by an organization representing the interests of farmers in the area where the land is situated.
An improvement notice may be revoked if the Department is satisfied that it is no longer required, and it affects successors in title. As long as it remains enforced, the Department must review the condition of the land covered by the notice, generally on an annual basis, to allow affected individuals to make representations. It continues to be enforced for a period of five years, and if the Department believes that the land is still unsatisfactory, it may issue another improvement notice. The above provisions apply to the further notice.
One month after the service of an improvement notice or County Court confirmation or modification, the Minister may issue written directions to the occupier to ensure that the land covered by the improvement notice is maintained in good condition and farmed in accordance with the rules of good husbandry. The Minister or Department must consider any representations made within a reasonable time.
These directions may impose requirements, restrictions, or prohibitions on carrying out work and specify the purposes and manner in which the land may be farmed. Directions may relate to manuring, cultivating, cropping, mowing, and grazing of agricultural land, removal and cutting of weeds, bracken, and scrub, protection of crops and livestock from disease and pests, harvesting of crops, and the protection and preservation of crops, methods of handling and treating produce for sale off the land, drainage, and fencing, as well as necessary repair work and maintenance.
Where the Department issues a direction requiring ploughing-up of land consisting of permanent pasture, which is inconsistent with any lease, the lease is deemed to be modified to allow such action. If the person to whom a direction is given refuses or neglects to comply with or acts in contravention of the direction, they are liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
Additionally, where a direction has been made and is not complied with, a person authorized by the Department may enter the land and carry out the relevant work and direction. The proper and reasonable cost of the work may be recovered as a civil debt, and it is an offense to obstruct any person exercising this power.
Where it appears to the Department necessary to safeguard the supply of food or other agricultural products in the public interest, the Department may prescribe by regulation that all the powers conferred by the following provisions are exercisable for a period of one year.
During this period, the Minister may issue directions regarding the use of agricultural land, the manner in which and the purposes for which the land is to be used, and any other matters as directed. Without prejudice, these directions may relate to the cultivation of agricultural land, including a minimum proportion of agricultural land to be cultivated and kept in cultivation.
Each of the above powers may be exercised as necessary to the Department for the purpose and reasonable in the circumstances. An order may be given with reference to all agricultural land or land of a specified class or description by notice served on the person required to comply with the direction.
Failure to comply with or contravention of a direction is an offense. The person directed is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale, imprisonment for up to six months, or both.
Where a direction has been issued, and the person directed has acquired any right to crop or till the land or graze or pasture livestock by virtue of any conacre or agistment agreement, the Minister must serve the same direction on that other person. Notwithstanding anything in the agreement, it is the duty of the person to comply with the direction, especially in relation to the land over which they have acquired the right. Failure to do so may result in conviction as outlined above. The occupier is not liable in such circumstances.