The battle to maximise Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) funding for farmers continues apace, with farm organisations calling for up to €100m of additional money from the Department of Agriculture.
The IFA has called for a €50m budget increase and maximum flexibility on EU natural handicap criteria, while the hill farmers’ organisation INHFA has called for an additional €100m to be added.
The IFA’s national hill committee chair Pat Dunne said payment rates should reflect the natural handicap, ensuring that the highest mainland payment will be on hills.
Setting the bar
The offshore island payment of €250/ha sets the bar, as this is the highest possible payment to recognise the extreme difficulty of farming on offshore islands.
Pat Dunne said front-loading of payments of the first 20ha is necessary, with an overall maximum of €6,000 being the target for hill farmers.
Listen to interviews with IFA president Joe Healy and farmers at last week's ANC meeting in Fermoy, Co Cork:
Listen to "IFA meeting on ANC review in Fermoy" on Spreaker.
The INHFA wants payments to be doubled in order to support farmers with severe permanent constraints on mountain and severely handicapped areas.
The organisation’s three-point plan calls for front-loading of payments on the first 20ha at €250/ha, as well as an increased rate of €170/ha. It also wants the number of eligible hectares increased from 34 to 40 at a rate of €70/ha.
IFA rural development chair Joe Brady met with Department of Agriculture officials this week and highlighted the need for maximum flexibility on EU rules when designating ANC areas.
Soil moisture
Department officials told the IFA that all the biophysical criteria will be used, but the main one will be soil moisture. Other criteria will be slopes, areas subject to flooding using OPW flood maps, areas subject to coastal erosion, soil depth and designated SAC and SPA areas.
Brady pushed for the Department to follow the French lead by making the case for areas to qualify under the new criteria by also classifying them based on agricultural output, stocking rate, permanent grassland, and farming systems, as well as areas with other specific constraints, which can be up to 10% of the area of Ireland.
The IFA’s next ANC meeting will be in the Seven Oaks in Carlow on Friday, catering for the 11,000 farmers in the south Leinster area, who currently qualify for ANC money.
Read more
Editorial: ANCs review process must not pit farmers against one another
Full coverage: ANCs
The battle to maximise Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) funding for farmers continues apace, with farm organisations calling for up to €100m of additional money from the Department of Agriculture.
The IFA has called for a €50m budget increase and maximum flexibility on EU natural handicap criteria, while the hill farmers’ organisation INHFA has called for an additional €100m to be added.
The IFA’s national hill committee chair Pat Dunne said payment rates should reflect the natural handicap, ensuring that the highest mainland payment will be on hills.
Setting the bar
The offshore island payment of €250/ha sets the bar, as this is the highest possible payment to recognise the extreme difficulty of farming on offshore islands.
Pat Dunne said front-loading of payments of the first 20ha is necessary, with an overall maximum of €6,000 being the target for hill farmers.
Listen to interviews with IFA president Joe Healy and farmers at last week's ANC meeting in Fermoy, Co Cork:
Listen to "IFA meeting on ANC review in Fermoy" on Spreaker.
The INHFA wants payments to be doubled in order to support farmers with severe permanent constraints on mountain and severely handicapped areas.
The organisation’s three-point plan calls for front-loading of payments on the first 20ha at €250/ha, as well as an increased rate of €170/ha. It also wants the number of eligible hectares increased from 34 to 40 at a rate of €70/ha.
IFA rural development chair Joe Brady met with Department of Agriculture officials this week and highlighted the need for maximum flexibility on EU rules when designating ANC areas.
Soil moisture
Department officials told the IFA that all the biophysical criteria will be used, but the main one will be soil moisture. Other criteria will be slopes, areas subject to flooding using OPW flood maps, areas subject to coastal erosion, soil depth and designated SAC and SPA areas.
Brady pushed for the Department to follow the French lead by making the case for areas to qualify under the new criteria by also classifying them based on agricultural output, stocking rate, permanent grassland, and farming systems, as well as areas with other specific constraints, which can be up to 10% of the area of Ireland.
The IFA’s next ANC meeting will be in the Seven Oaks in Carlow on Friday, catering for the 11,000 farmers in the south Leinster area, who currently qualify for ANC money.
Read more
Editorial: ANCs review process must not pit farmers against one another
Full coverage: ANCs
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