An improved Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) scheme and a return to coupled farm income supports could present a viable route for Ireland to chart through the choppy waters of one of the most significant CAP shakeups in decades.
That is according to Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, who warned the Oireachtas agriculture committee last week that the post-2027 CAP reform could spell the end of entitlement-based income supports.
Minister Heydon urged caution on farm financial planning, particularly around land leasing, as “entitlements appear to be abolished in the proposal” on CAP from the European Commission.
“This is something we need to be mindful of.
“People need to be very careful in terms of decisions they are making around entitlements.”
It was against this backdrop that the minister then gave his views on how CAP funds could be administered in a way that minimises the red tape attached to schemes.
“When I talked earlier about simplification and I talked about less schemes and that – you probably couldn’t get a simpler way of directly getting money to farmers with the least amount of hassle, the least amount of administrative cost and burden than the likes of the ANC,” the minister told the committee. “So, who knows where we’ll end up here but you could have an enhanced ANC because it might be the only mechanism to try and get money to people in a simple way and have a list of measures
or whatever.
“That all has to be worked out but [ANC] and coupling is all stuff we are going to engage on this year, through the CAP consultative
committee.”
Minister Heydon’s remarks on the ANC and headage payments came after he laid bare the extent of the European Commission’s cuts to ringfenced farm scheme funds as part of its reform of the EU’s long-term budget.
As the proposals currently stand, Ireland will have €2.54bn less ringfenced EU CAP funds to work with when it comes to funding farm schemes between 2028
and 2032.
The minister warned that Ireland’s farmers face a “significantly larger reduction in real terms once inflation is taken into account”.
“We know there’s a big chunk that a lot of member states want of the new cake to go to defence that didn’t go there before and that is their renewed priorities,” Minister Heydon said.
“So, unless we get the cake bigger and more people pay into it or extra revenue raising measures are put in to make the cake bigger, something is going to have to give.”
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Minister urges caution on land leases as the end looms for entitlements
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Move to scrap entitlements
An improved Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) scheme and a return to coupled farm income supports could present a viable route for Ireland to chart through the choppy waters of one of the most significant CAP shakeups in decades.
That is according to Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, who warned the Oireachtas agriculture committee last week that the post-2027 CAP reform could spell the end of entitlement-based income supports.
Minister Heydon urged caution on farm financial planning, particularly around land leasing, as “entitlements appear to be abolished in the proposal” on CAP from the European Commission.
“This is something we need to be mindful of.
“People need to be very careful in terms of decisions they are making around entitlements.”
It was against this backdrop that the minister then gave his views on how CAP funds could be administered in a way that minimises the red tape attached to schemes.
“When I talked earlier about simplification and I talked about less schemes and that – you probably couldn’t get a simpler way of directly getting money to farmers with the least amount of hassle, the least amount of administrative cost and burden than the likes of the ANC,” the minister told the committee. “So, who knows where we’ll end up here but you could have an enhanced ANC because it might be the only mechanism to try and get money to people in a simple way and have a list of measures
or whatever.
“That all has to be worked out but [ANC] and coupling is all stuff we are going to engage on this year, through the CAP consultative
committee.”
Minister Heydon’s remarks on the ANC and headage payments came after he laid bare the extent of the European Commission’s cuts to ringfenced farm scheme funds as part of its reform of the EU’s long-term budget.
As the proposals currently stand, Ireland will have €2.54bn less ringfenced EU CAP funds to work with when it comes to funding farm schemes between 2028
and 2032.
The minister warned that Ireland’s farmers face a “significantly larger reduction in real terms once inflation is taken into account”.
“We know there’s a big chunk that a lot of member states want of the new cake to go to defence that didn’t go there before and that is their renewed priorities,” Minister Heydon said.
“So, unless we get the cake bigger and more people pay into it or extra revenue raising measures are put in to make the cake bigger, something is going to have to give.”
Read more
Minister urges caution on land leases as the end looms for entitlements
Department seeks clarity on EU plans to axe BISS
Move to scrap entitlements
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