Listening to Defra farming minister George Eustice during a meeting with the NI affairs committee at Westminster last week, it was clear that he was well-briefed on the differences between agriculture in NI and Britain.

In particular, when asked about the possible future allocation of payments, he pointed out that while NI has the highest rate of payment per hectare, it has the lowest rate of payment per farm. That reflects the lower farm size here, and also the fact that we have an intensive livestock sector, which historically was able to make the best use of headage-based schemes such as suckler cow premium, sheep annual premium and beef special premium. Those headage schemes are long gone, but their legacy still very much remains.

It means that out of the total UK CAP direct payments of around €3bn per year, NI gets 9.2%, Scotland gets 16.3%, Wales 9% and England 65.5%.

For the time being, those allocations are to remain largely the same, with the British Government committing to retaining payments as they currently are to 2022. What happens after that is unclear, with the British Treasury to review how money is allocated in the future.

Ultimately, therefore, it is for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to decide how money is spent, not Defra ministers. Traditionally, the model used by Treasury is the Barnett formula, which is based around population numbers. Apply that formula to current CAP allocations and NI only gets 3%, Wales around 4%, Scotland 8.5% and the rest stays in England.

Aside from a cheap food policy after Brexit, finding a mechanism for future agricultural support that is based on the needs of farming in each region (not the Barnett formula), must be a priority issue for the NI farm lobby. It should also be a priority issue for NI politicians at Westminster.