It is becoming less clear when proposals will be brought forward on what agricultural policy will look like in NI post Brexit.

Speaking at a tax planning meeting in Portrush last Thursday, Agricultural Law Association NI representative Peter Brown said that a policy document on future agricultural policy that is due to be published by Defra next year may not include devolved regions.

“There is now a hint that what we thought would apply to the whole of the UK, will now only apply to England. We are going to have to write everything from scratch here, in Wales and in Scotland,” the Ballymoney-based solicitor said.

Brown said that the comments were made at an Agricultural Law Association meeting in England last week. “I went over this morning knowing very little about what is going to be happening after Brexit. After a four-hour discussion, I actually know less,” he said.

As reported by the Irish Farmers Journal last week, there is a growing possibility that NI farmers could be under CAP arrangements for a period after the UK leaves the EU. However, when NI farmers eventually move away from CAP in the future, Brown said that some of the underlying objectives of the current scheme could remain.

“There is a big push in DAERA towards active farming and bringing the next generation through in the young farmers’ scheme. I suspect that if there is a blank sheet for Brexit, it is going to be used to reinforce what has been done here over the last three or four years,” he said.