A mandatory farm succession plan, a transition payment for older farmers and a scrapping of the historic reference years are the key elements of Macra’s policy paper on the next CAP. It proposes new carrot-and-stick measures to encourage older farmers to retire and a new “startup” aid for young farmers.

The policy was drawn up by the agricultural affairs committee after consultation with 1,000 young farmers.

The CAP budget must be maintained or even increased, Macra says. A minimum of 10% should be directed to young farmer measures. Specific measures must be built in to protect EU farmers – including young farmers – from the effects of Brexit.

Macra wants a free trade agreement between the UK and the EU with no tariffs or quotas. It wants new EU tariff-rate quotas on key agri imports from third countries, to compensate farmers for the EU losing one of its largest importing nations.

EU definitions of young farmers and active farmers are key to Macra. It wants all farmers under 40 years to have equal access to all CAP measures. It wants the current five-year limit for receiving young farmer benefits to be scrapped.

Listen to "Macra president Sean Finan on its CAP recommendations" on Spreaker.

The current EU definition of an active farmer results in some CAP funding going to “armchair” farmers, Macra says. To better target payments to active farmers, it wants the following criteria added:

  • Mandatory five-year business development plan.
  • Payments granted to farmers delivering “public goods”.
  • Continuous farm health and safety training.
  • Minimum agricultural activity, eg stocking rates or cropping area.
  • Continuous professional development training.
  • Mandatory completion of a succession plan when a farmer reaches 63 years.

    • New payment model

    Macra proposes a new EU farm payment model to further reduce the link to the reference years 2000 to 2003. The funding pool would be split in four as follows:

  • 40% would be an economic viability payment based on the Basic/Greening payment a farmer received in 2019.
  • 30% based on achieved climate change and environmental measures.
  • 20% linked to a list of new farm development measures, eg training, farm business plan and succession plan. Farmers would identify chosen measures each year when applying for annual payment.
  • 10% for mandatory young farmer measures including top-up – to age 40 – and National Reserve.

    • Cross-compliance inspections would be used to confirm achievements of chosen measures. Decreasing the proportion of payments based on land area would have the additional benefit of decreasing upward pressure on land prices, Macra says.

    Succession measures

    On reaching 63 years of age, all farmers applying for CAP supports would have to complete a farm succession plan. From 65, farmers would qualify for a transition payment, up to age 70. Any farmer wishing to receive CAP supports after 70 would have to get involved in a collaborative arrangement.

    The paper proposes startup aid for new entrants available for vouched expenditure and necessary capital investments.

    Environmental payments within EU direct payments should be “results based”, it says. These are more effective, are easier to justify to governments and reduce conflict between farmers and conservationists.

    In addition, all other rural development measures should be “young farmer-proofed”, it says. It wants more funding for training including for health and safety, for knowledge transfer, for “smart agriculture” measures focused on new technology and innovated techniques and for young farm organisations.

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