With NI government departments facing significant budget cuts in the new financial year, it could have major implications for public services.
What is not at risk is around £300m of direct payments to farmers, which is ring-fenced expenditure coming from the UK Treasury.
However, with around 3,000 staff across DAERA, and staff costs accounting for over 70% of the Department’s budget, the easiest way for the Department to deliver savings is to recruit less people and/or encourage others to retire early. How this all plays out in the weeks ahead is unknown.
What is clear is that despite the £300m in direct payments, NI farmers continue to fall further behind counterparts in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) when it comes to support to the sector.
In the run-up to the 2016 EU referendum we were told by some politicians that leaving the EU would free up the UK to provide more support not less. And since then we have had various politicians maintain that NI farmers should be not be at a competitive disadvantage compared to counterparts in the Republic of Ireland.
The evidence clearly suggests there is a growing disparity. While ROI farmers do get lower direct payments per ha (around €266/ha versus €330/ha in NI), this is more than compensated for by other schemes. The vast majority of Irish farmers get Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) payments, worth around €250m per year.
In the beef sector, a new five-year €256m Suckler Cow Efficiency Payment (SCEP) when combined with €28m of funding under a scheme to replace the Beef Environmental Efficiency Payment (BEEP), will deliver around €200 per cow.
To that, add in fodder support payments, a tillage incentive scheme, straw incorporation measure, a sheep welfare payment, a new €8m scheme to encourage farmers to spread lime and further incentives to grow multi-species swards in 2023.
ROI farmers also get 60% grants under Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS), while their processors have recently availed of €100m post-brexit support. The playing field is far from even across the island.
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