Northern Ireland farmers currently operating in a disadvantaged area (DA) and in receipt of Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowance (LFACA) are likely to find themselves excluded from future payments targeted at less productive land in Northern Ireland.

The change is part of a process of re-designating less favoured areas (LFA) across Europe using bio-physical criteria such as soil, climate and slope. The areas are to be renamed areas of natural constraint (ANC).

A set of maps showing possible ANC areas in NI, are due to be made available later this month. It is expected that nearly all DA land in NI will drop out, leaving most of the severely disadvantaged area (SDA) as ANC.

Given that ANC is designated by administrative area (electoral ward) there could be some anomalies in the final system.

In 2012, LFACA was paid on 118,800 hectares of DA land to 7,100 businesses and amounted to £4.1m. The payment was worth £578 per farm business. There is the possibility that DARD could gradually phase out a payment to these claimants.