Environmental Reporting Rural Environment Protection Scheme is a scheme designed to reward farmers for carrying out their farming activities in an environmentally friendly manner and to bring about environmental improvement on existing farms. The objectives of the Scheme are to: • establish farming practices and production methods which reflect the increasing concern for conservation, landscape protection and wider environmental problems • protect wildlife habitats and endangered species of flora and fauna • produce quality food in an extensive and environmentally friendly manner These objectives are manifested in the creation of an individual agri-environmental plan for every REPS applicant. This plan is prepared by a Department of Agriculture Food (DAF) approved REPS planning agency. The solution - eREPS Under the direction of Teagasc, a specification was developed that would incorporate the latest available digitised maps from the Ordnance Survey of Ireland (OSi), in a hosted environment, making them available both on and offline to all approved planners. Further to this, the specification would lead to an online system to be designed and built by a multi disciplinary team including Teagasc, DAF, the Agricultural Consultants Association, and BizMaps Ltd who were chosen as the system developers. The design brief for the system would allow planners to: Create, edit, view and search for REPS farm plans in their jurisdiction. This allows all REPS agencies to use the same REPS system but only access and manage their own clients. Digitise farm details as boundaries, streams, hedgerows and monuments on a map. The system massively increases the planners’ productivity by automatically recording spatial data such as lengths, distances and areas to a degree of accuracy that was previously inconceivable. Record all relevant details for a plan. These details include land parcel information, soil sample data, crops grown, animals housed, fertilisers used, waste storage facilities and fodder stored. Analyse plan data in real time to produce online reports previously calculated manually. Parameter driven, the system has been designed to be flexible enough to adapt to any regulatory changes both quickly and easily. Utilise the recorded data to generate complex reports for supply to DAFF. These reports provide all information necessary to ensure rapid farm payments and, where necessary, impose penalties. Print maps of farms for inclusion with report submissions. Project Benefits The delivered project has produced the following generic benefits: Increase in the quality of REPS plans produced thereby reducing the expense of plan reworks and consequent inaccuracies Introduction of major efficiencies and streamlining into the REPS planning process Data is stored and managed from a central location Detailed analysis of the REPS scheme can be undertaken for European Union (EU) auditing purposes. This has meant that previously onerous and expensive methods of scheme analysis can be dispensed with. Significant improvements to both users and customers. REPS planners can now access farm maps in seconds as distinct to before where maps had to be ordered by post from the OSi. Where changes are made by DAF to REPS requirements, the system can be modified centrally thus effecting change globally. This has removed the need to distribute physical software copies to all planners and ensures common version usage. The delivered project has also produced the following specific benefits: Easy location of farmer maps. A planner may now browse a digital map to pinpoint precisely the location of the farm to be visited. As the system is a true GIS system, the farm can now be fully digitised online. Reduced lag time for the farmer between REPS application and ultimate approval. The production of farmer friendly reports. The production of farmer friendly colour coded A3 maps. REPS planners have access to up to date spatial reference information such as Natura 2000 sites, Archaeological Monuments, DAFF Land Parcel Information. Users of the system are not required to have expensive software loaded onto their individual computers. The eREPS operates using Internet Explorer. All digitising of maps by the planners are subjected to automatic topology checking at the front end at time of creation and once again, more rigorously, at the back end before incorporation. This greatly improves the accuracy with which planners are able to construct and subsequently submit farm plans for DAFF approval. Two of the most important outputs from the system are the Payment Document (4 or 5 pages) submitted to DAFF and the REPS Plan Document submitted to the farmer. Whereas previously it may have taken a planner four to five days to produce these documents, they may now be produced from within eREPS in a matter of minutes. Figs. 2 to 5 illustrate the system functionality.   Fig. 5 Fertilisation Usage Reconciliation Figure 5 shows some of the detail the planner is required to capture in relation to the usage of a variety of fertilisers used by the farmer. Using a colour-coded schema, the system measures the actual amount of fertiliser used against recommended minima and maxima per hectare. At a glance, the planner is notified of whether or not the input amount is within the prescribed range and allows the planner to either accept as is or adjust accordingly. The Future With numbers of REPS participants set to increase to 80,000 farmers in the coming years it is crucial that a robust system for client data management be in place. Several enhancements for the system are in the pipeline. These include: • Further integration with other Department of Agriculture and Food Schemes • Production of Nitrates Derogation plans • Integration with requirements under Cross Compliance • Online submission of REPS plans • Automatic synchronisation of third party hosted data • Electronic capture of data in the field Summary To date, over 31,000 clients have been registered on the eREPS system. Currently there are 650 users using the system. The eREPS system has produced over 300,000 individual maps and reports since it went live. Currently the system prints on average 800 maps and reports per day. The new eREPS system allows REPS Planners to focus on planning a farm rather than mapping and measuring. Users of the system have unanimously embraced eREPS as an indispensable tool in their REPS planning business. The eREPS site can be accessed by a planner from any location provided they are able to establish an internet connection. The system produces a quality printed REPS plan for each client. The eREPS system was delivered on budget and on time – it has revolutionized the way in which planners work and has inspired confidence across all stakeholders within the REPS community. This system will be of huge interest to other countries that operate agri-environmental schemes but as yet do not have the means to effectively manage the complexities of the process.