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In its response to the DAERA consultation on future agriculture policy in NI, the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has made clear that it wants upper limits put on future agri-environment schemes to prevent large amounts of funding going to big landowners.
The DAERA proposals include a new Farming For Nature package, which is expected to form the central plank of agricultural policy into the long term.
However, unlike a new area-based resilience payment which is to take the bulk of the money in the early years, there is no upper cap proposed on the size of an individual claim in this proposed agri-environment-type scheme.
“This could result in a situation where large amounts of the funding pot could end up with a small number of very large landowners,” warns the UFU.
This scheme should not become a profit centre for consultants and eNGOs
It wants similar principles to apply as proposed for the resilience measure, which is targeted at active farmers, not landowners, with progressive caps on payments over £60,000.
On the delivery of future environment schemes, the union argues that facilitators must be people farmers “can respect and work with”. It goes on to express doubt whether environmental non-government organisations (eNGOs) are best placed to undertake this role.
“This scheme should not become a profit centre for consultants and eNGOs,” states the UFU response.
Changes required
Across the raft of DAERA proposals, the UFU is generally supportive of the direction of travel, but with many changes required.
It warns DAERA to consider carefully a proposal to exclude from future resilience payments those who just grow grass for sale, warning of “unintended consequences”.
The UFU also suggests that the minimum claim size is set at 5ha, not the 10ha proposed by DAERA, and makes clear it will not support soil testing as a condition for the resilience payment if the results of these soil tests are used in any enforcement activity.
Headage payments
A significant section of the UFU response deals with proposed headage sustainability measures.
These measures, initially targeted at suckler cows and finishing beef cattle, are set to be funded by taking 17% (£50m) off the total payment pot in the first year.
The UFU response points out that many farmers find heifers that calve at 30 to 33 months easier to get in calf the second time around
Various criteria are proposed by DAERA, including that to be eligible for a suckler payment, heifers must calve at under 30 months, moving to under 27 months by year four.
The UFU response points out that many farmers find heifers that calve at 30 to 33 months easier to get in calf the second time around.
It also wants an exemption made for native breeds, and suggests that if other breeds are expected to eventually calve heifers under 27 months, the transition to this new policy should be over six years, not four.
A similar argument is made for the criteria around calving interval (CI) for mature suckler cows, with a transition over a six-year period.
In its proposals, DAERA suggests that a cow will need to have a CI below 370 days to get a payment by year four.
A similar six-year transition is suggested by the UFU for a scheme to encourage farmers to slaughter cattle at younger ages
However, the UFU points out that CAFRE advisers believe a herd with a CI of 375 to 380 days is already achieving “exceptional” performance.
A similar six-year transition is suggested by the UFU for a scheme to encourage farmers to slaughter cattle at younger ages. DAERA has proposed a 30-month limit, reducing to 24 months by year four.
Sheep
The UFU also wants sheep included in headage sustainability measures, pointing out that if beef is getting support while sheep are excluded, it could distort the market and the balance of livestock kept on farms.
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