Farmers will have to carry out extra measures to receive the new Basic Resilience Payment if proposals made by the NI beef and sheep sector are adopted.

The proposals, which have been sent to DAERA, include linking a series of compulsory and optional requirements to the area-based payment part of future farm support.

These measures include undertaking greenhouse gas auditing, soil sampling, keeping minimum stocking rates and following nutrient management plans.

The report was a joint initiative between the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), the Ulster Farmers’ Union and the NI Meat Exporters’ Association (NIMEA).

Speaking on Wednesday, LMC chief executive Ian Stevenson said that the payment rate per acre under the new Basic Resilience Payment is still to be decided.

“There is a discussion to be had on how much of the pot goes into that basic payment,” he told members of the National Sheep Association.

The proposals from the beef and sheep sector also include optional schemes on top of the area-based payment. This includes headage payments for suckler bred calves and breeding ewes, a new agri environment scheme and a disadvantaged area payment.