The annual payments to farmers of up to £490 for attending meetings as part of the Business Development Group (BDG) element of the Farm Business Improvement Scheme are to be removed from April 2018.

When the scheme was launched in November 2015, DAERA said that payments to participants were to be reviewed after the first two years of the scheme. However, a Department spokesperson confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that in the original business case approved by the Department of Finance, the plan was to remove the annual payments at the end of March 2018.

“We are proceeding with the scheme in line with our original plans,” the spokesperson said.

Attendance payments are currently only paid if farmers attend a minimum of six out of eight meetings each year. An allowance of £600 for hosting an on-farm event is also available to farmers, but this payment will remain in place for the five-year lifetime of the scheme.

In December 2015, 3,313 farmers applied for the scheme. A further 118 new applicants joined in a second tranche targeted at pig and dairy farmers in November 2016.

Review

It is understood that DAERA officials are currently reviewing the potential effect removal of payments will have on the scheme, particularly with farmer attendance at meetings.

Whether that means some form of payment could yet be reinstated to encourage farmer involvement is not known, but it looks unlikely at present.

The discussion group format is based on similar initiatives in the Republic of Ireland. The current Knowledge Transfer programme there pays farmers up to €750 per year. Farmers must attend at least five meetings and also develop a farm improvement plan.

Vet fees ranging from €100 to €250 must also be paid by the farmer for an animal health plan to be completed in the first year. There are other additional requirements around issues such as breeding, grassland management, health and safety planning, as well as financial benchmarking.