A new proposal from DAERA could see a further 25,000ha of land become available for claiming the main farm payment in NI next year.

The initial plan from the department was that “soft features” such as rush, scrub and bracken would be eligible for the Farm Sustainability Payment (FSP) from 2026 onwards.

The original proposal would increase the total eligible land area in NI by 4% or 40,000ha.

ADVERTISEMENT

However, a DAERA spokesperson has confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that the new land eligibility policy has been “further developed” in recent months.

“It is proposed that, subject to legislation and approvals, eligible land would also include areas of woodland, scattered rock and bog,” the spokesperson said.

If approved, it means over 65,000ha of extra land will be eligible for claiming the FSP next year when compared to 2025.

DAERA said additional FSP entitlements will not be issued to farmers, so anyone with newly eligible land will need to buy or lease extra entitlements to claim payment on it.

The new rules could therefore increase the demand for FSP entitlements when the window for trading entitlements opens in 2026.

Continued on page 4

On the supply side, a new “historic years” rule is likely to increase the number of entitlements that become available for trading next year.

In 2026, around 2,400 landowners who had no farming activity in 2020 or 2021 will not be eligible for claiming FSP.

These landowners will still be issued with FSP entitlements, but they will need to sell them by 15 May 2026 or else their entitlements will expire.

It remains to be seen how the new rules will affect entitlement trading next year. A key factor will be how much demand there will be for obtaining FSP entitlements for newly eligible land.

However, it should be noted that even under the existing land eligibility rules, there is already more eligible land than entitlements in NI.

DAERA figures indicate that the current number of entitlements covers only 97% of the eligible land area, meaning at least 3% of eligible land in NI was not claimed in 2025.

Ends.