CAP reform has proved to be a difficult issue for both farmers and DARD, but we are not the only region struggling to come to terms with the new rules.
Your view on whether DARD made the right policy decisions around CAP reform probably depends on the effect that those decisions will have on your farm business. Time will tell whether DARD policymakers and Minister Michelle O’Neill have done everything they could to protect productive farmers. Many in the industry believe that they could have done more. Perhaps it is something deserving of an inquiry in the future by the Stormont agriculture committee. Hindsight will probably show that some good and some bad decisions were taken. It is always important to learn from mistakes of the past.
To be fair to DARD, many of the rules are outside of its control. Simplification was one of the main buzzwords coming from Brussels at the start of the reform process. Any right-thinking EU official who reads the 93-page DARD Guide to Greening booklet should be suitably embarrassed that the word was ever used.
Despite the frustration we all feel about the process, it seems DARD is probably better placed to get payments out on time this year than many of our neighbours. The English were going for an online-only system, but have had to abandon that plan. Forms are going out by email. They have extended the application deadline to 15 June.
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The Scots were also going for an online option, but have printed out paper forms as a backup measure, while the Welsh plans have been in disarray ever since the High Court upheld a challenge against a separate moorland payment.
They are consulting on whether to opt for a five- or seven-year transition to flat-rate payments. Meanwhile, in the Republic of Ireland, land eligibility has reared its ugly head.
Thankfully, we are probably a couple of years ahead on that issue.
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Title: NI not the only region struggling with CAP
CAP reform has proved to be a difficult issue for both farmers and DARD, but we are not the only region struggling to come to terms with the new rules.
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Your view on whether DARD made the right policy decisions around CAP reform probably depends on the effect that those decisions will have on your farm business. Time will tell whether DARD policymakers and Minister Michelle O’Neill have done everything they could to protect productive farmers. Many in the industry believe that they could have done more. Perhaps it is something deserving of an inquiry in the future by the Stormont agriculture committee. Hindsight will probably show that some good and some bad decisions were taken. It is always important to learn from mistakes of the past.
To be fair to DARD, many of the rules are outside of its control. Simplification was one of the main buzzwords coming from Brussels at the start of the reform process. Any right-thinking EU official who reads the 93-page DARD Guide to Greening booklet should be suitably embarrassed that the word was ever used.
Despite the frustration we all feel about the process, it seems DARD is probably better placed to get payments out on time this year than many of our neighbours. The English were going for an online-only system, but have had to abandon that plan. Forms are going out by email. They have extended the application deadline to 15 June.
The Scots were also going for an online option, but have printed out paper forms as a backup measure, while the Welsh plans have been in disarray ever since the High Court upheld a challenge against a separate moorland payment.
They are consulting on whether to opt for a five- or seven-year transition to flat-rate payments. Meanwhile, in the Republic of Ireland, land eligibility has reared its ugly head.
Thankfully, we are probably a couple of years ahead on that issue.
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