The Scottish government has announced details on how CAP reform will be implemented in Scotland, leaving Northern Ireland as the only region on these islands where major issues are still to be decided.

Among the headlines from the announcement made by Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead in the Scottish Parliament last week is a five-year transition period to flat-rate payments. There are also proposals aimed at preventing money moving from productive farmers to large tracts of unproductive land. This is being done by way of a “Scottish clause” in CAP legislation – it essentially means that land with no farming activity will not receive direct payments, even if it is a potentially eligible area (after being grazed by animals such as deer). That clause, plus a proposal that sporting estates will not receive direct payments, means that an estimated 600,000 hectares of land in Scotland will be excluded from future payments.

Productive land in Scotland will be treated as one region, and will work towards an average of around €200/ha by 2019, while rough grazing will be paid at a rate close to €35/ha. The poorest rough grazing will only receive an estimated €10/ha, although sheep producers in these regions will be able to claim a coupled payment of €25/ewe.

There is also a coupled payment proposed for all beef-bred calves from suckler cows, a continuation of the Scottish beef calf scheme which in 2013 paid £139.20 on the first 10 calves, and £46.40 thereafter.

In his announcement last week, Cabinet Secretary Lochhead said he intended doubling the rate on the first 10 calves under a future scheme.

He also floated the idea of a £45m package under the next Rural Development Programme aimed at improving genetics, performance and efficiency within the beef industry in Scotland.

The next programme will also have an increased budget for agri-environment schemes, and will fund carbon audits on farms – part of a Scottish government drive to reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint.

The package of measures has been broadly welcomed by the National Farmers Union of Scotland (NFUS).

NFUS president Nigel Miller said: “While few farming businesses may be celebrating, credit is due to the Scottish government for securing additional tools and devices from Europe to try and make our budget achieve as much as possible.

“The Cabinet Secretary has kept a focus on production with a package that looks to underpin that in future,” said Miller.

NFUS wants talks on CAP convergence

The case for a convergence of CAP money across Britain and Northern Ireland was again put by the National Farmers Union of Scotland (NFUS) at a meeting last week with Defra farming minister George Eustice.

It is a crucial issue for NI as any move towards a single flat-rate payment across the UK would be to the detriment of farmers here, given that the average payment rate per hectare in NI (€329/ha) is well above the overall UK average of €229/ha. In Scotland, the average is only around €130/ha.

Speaking after the meeting in Edinburgh, NFUS president Nigel Miller said: “Defra has opened the door to a convergence review in 2016 and we have pressed George Eustice on the need to nail down the detail and timetable for that review.”