The recent progression in transitioning farm support measures in Northern Ireland has been broadly welcomed by Tom Elliot MLA.
In this context, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) agriculture spokesman has specifically highlighted the steps taken by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) on taking forward the transition of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) entitlements into Farm Sustainability Payment (FSP) entitlements.
This constitutes part of the launch of the Farm Sustainability Transition Payment (FSTP) in 2025.
Elliott also highlighted the importance of these developments in bringing stability to Northern Ireland’s agricultural sector.
He said: “The FSP will be the biggest shake-up in agriculture policy for some time and invokes the new direction of agriculture policy outside the EU and a move away from the Common Agriculture Policy norms.
“The clarification from the department of how it plans to implement this new regime will raise many questions in the forthcoming days, as farmers seek stability to facilitate them with forward planning.
“However, this is not the finalised binding product – it may yet change, as it only reflects the policy decisions outlined to date by Minister Poots.
“It is still yet unclear if the current minster will bring forward further changes, or indeed if he has the right to deviate from decisions already taken by the previous minister.”
According to Elliott, there are still concerns surrounding the eligibility for this scheme that, he believes, will need greater scrutiny from the Stormont Assembly.
Farm support measures
Elliot continued: “A requirement of five hectares of eligible land to qualify will have a detrimental impact on many of our smaller farmers, who are already feeling the pinch from economic and environmental pressures.
“The farming and agri-food sector are like no other industries, they face acute pressures that are beyond the control of the individual farmers themselves, they face constant fluctuations in pricing and for some a stagnation in earnings persisting for years.
“Farmers deserve a fair deal that works for all.”
The UUP representative was responding to a recent statement from DAERA within which a number of fundamental announcements, with regard to the out working of future farm support measures in Northern Ireland.
Underpinning all of this, is the confirmation that the current BPS will be replaced by an FSTP in 2025, with the full FSP coming into effect in 2026.
From 2025, the minimum claim size that farmers can make will increase from 3ha to 5ha. For those individuals who did not actively farm in 2020 and 2021, they will not qualify for a in 2025, nor will they receive new FSP entitlements.
This change will impact landowners who have no livestock or are not growing arable crops.
Many still receive BPS entitlements and trade these each year, while others manage to meet active farming rules by keeping their land in prime agricultural condition or creating revenue from selling grass/grass silage. They will no longer be able to do this under the new payments.
DAERA has outlined that these landowners have until the closure of the entitlement trading window in May 2025 to sell their BPS entitlements.
“If they miss this deadline, their BPS entitlements will lose all value,” Elliot added.