Current Edition: 3 April 2004
Farm Business
50% stacking deal confirmed
By John Shirley
As the decoupling rules were completed this week, the Department confirmed that certain categories will be able to stack all of the entitlements from 2000 to 2002 onto 50% of the area farmed in that reference period.
As anticipated, this concession is granted for:
This concession will be available on a continual basis and can be repeated after 2005, as long as the farmer still has 50% of the land farmed in the Reference Period.
The following are hypothetical examples:
Q - I farmed 100 hectares in 2000 to 2002, 80 hectares of which were rented. What is the minimum land I must rent in 2005 to get all of my entitlements?
A - You can stack the 100 hectares of entitlements on 50ha if you cannot acquire the rented land. This includes 20 owned and 30 rented hectares. You must rent at least 30ha.
Q - I farmed 100 hectares in the 2000/02 reference period, 20 of which were rented. What is the minimum land I must rent in 2005 to get all of my entitlements?
A - You must submit all of the land you are farming, which will be 80 hectares. The 100ha of entitlements can be stacked on 80ha if you cannot rent the balance of 20ha. You need not rent any.
Breakthroughs
The other significant development on Decoupling is the opportunity, for the family of farmers retired since 2000, to avail of the entitlements, if the retired person farmed during the reference period.
This will be done by the retired farmers getting a once-off chance to establish the entitlements and pass them on to a family person now farming.
A similar opening applies where farmers bought land prior to 2005.
In this case, the seller can still establish the entitlements and pass them on to the buyer, as per contract agreement.
Where nothing on entitlements has been written into the deal, it will be up to the seller and buyer to come to an arrangement.
