NPI Bracken (Mechanical)

Class of Action:

Habitats

Grassland, Mountain, Winterage

Payment Rate:

€242.76/ ha

Note: The most up to date specifications are available on the dedicated ACRES / ACRES CP website under Non Productive Investments – Click Link Here

About This Action:

To control Bracken to maintain access and prevent spread into high value habitats.

1. All Bracken within the planned area must be rolled or bruised at least twice over the summer.

This NPI is intended for larger and more accessible sites. It is not suitable for small sites, steep slopes or areas with rocky outcrops or other obstacles. On smaller sites and those where access is more difficult you should apply for the Bracken Management (Strimming) NPI.

For the full details on requirements for this action you should read the Dept. of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Specifications for Non Productive Investments.

You can find them by clicking here

Implementation Notes

First cut in Late May/ Early June before the fronds unfurl, at least two additional cuts to remove replacement fronds.

Additional Guidance

Bracken bruiser is more effective on fronds that are fully developed in June.
Follow up treatment is required and should be considered in at least two consecutive years. If there is no commitment to follow up treatment Bracken will recover, and the initial treatment will be wasted.
Where Bracken is generally stunted, scattered, or naturally limited (e.g., growing along subsoil confined fissures and unlikely to spread out to form closed canopy stands), it is generally not considered a real problem needing direct control.
Treatment type will vary depending on terrain and health & safety considerations.
Work with care; Bracken is carcinogenic to humans, and it is also associated with a high occurrence of ticks and can increase the likelihood of transmission of Lymes disease. To reduce the risk, you should avoid entering areas of mature Bracken particularly from August to October (both months inclusive).
On sites where Bracken is mixed with Brambles or other scrub, cutting other vegetation with a flail cutter the previous winter may facilitate access for treatment of Bracken later in the following Summer.

Good Locations:

Bracken invading high scoring Grasslands
Perimeter of large blocks of Bracken
Around access points

Poor Locations:

Hen Harrier areas
Bracken with Woodlands plants (Bluebells, Wood Anemone, Wild Garlic) underneath
Beside a Watercourse
Centre of large blocks of Bracken
Wet sites, thin soils where risk of Bracken becoming dominant is low
Steep Slopes

There are a few big rocks on the land, can I give these a wide berth with the machine and tidy up with a strimmer?

Small amounts of tidying up with a strimmer e.g. around rocky outcrops is Ok, Larger areas should be applied for under the Bracken Management Strimming action.

Bracken is mixed in with Brambles and Blackthorn, Can I cut them all in early Summer?

No, as scrub clearance can’t be done in bird nesting season.

I have Bluebells coming up through the Bracken, can I still avail of this NPI?

Bracken often shelters woodland plants like Bluebells. Bracken dominated areas are bright in Spring and shaded by the canopy in Summer just like deciduous woodlands. If Bracken is removed these plants will be lost as well.

Why not consider planting a small woodland on these sites instead. The trees will shade the Bracken reducing its vigour and the new woodland will inherit the woodland plants that found refuge under the Bracken.