There are "currently no plans" to offer a replacement option to farmers who were unsuccessful in applying to be part of the Results-based Agri-environment Pilot (REAP) scheme in cases where current participants drop out.

This was confirmed to Agriland by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in response to a recent query on the matter.

According to the Department of Agriculture, a total of 10,805 eligible applications were received for REAP.

Of these 4,926 applications were approved and the remaining 5,879 were unsuccessful.

When asked as to how many successful applicants had entered the entirety of their farms as the land entered under the scheme, a spokesperson for the department said:

"Land details must be identified and assessment and scoring submitted on GLAM for Low Input Grasslands (LIG) by July 31, and for the Multi Species Ley (MSL) option by August 15," the spokesperson said.

"Where successful applicants withdraw from REAP, currently there are no plans to offer a replacement option," the department representative concluded.