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Farmers claiming on land located in severely disadvantaged areas (SDA) dominate the top of the list of the highest CAP recipients in NI.
In the top 20, the first 17 are all claiming on land in the SDA, and only one farm did not claim an Area of Natural Constraint (ANC) payment (paid exclusively on SDA land) in the 2018 CAP budget year.
The latest figures, published by Defra, show payments made to all claimants for the period 16 October 2017 to 15 October 2018. Previously, the top of the NI list was dominated by large beef finishers, but with the move to area-based payments, it is those farmers who own or lease large tracts of hill land that now feature out in front.
The highest CAP payment was made to CAFRE, with a farm that extends to over 3,300 acres, including a 2,500ac hill farm in Glenwherry, Co Antrim
Included in that are a number of beef finishers, who had historically high entitlements per hectare, and managed to spread these over hill land when the move towards a flat rate per hectare kicked in during 2015.
However, the highest CAP payment was made to CAFRE, with a farm that extends to over 3,300 acres, including a 2,500ac hill farm in Glenwherry, Co Antrim. The college received over £221,000 in direct payments (Basic Payment Scheme and Greening) plus another £50,000 of ANC money – a total of £271,395.
Five other farm business in NI received over £200,000 in direct payments – C&C Phillips, Magherafelt; G Burleigh, Enniskillen; Blakiston Houston Estate Co, Belfast; A&A Devine, Derry, and D C Cattle Ltd, Newry.
Of the top 10 claimants, four were in receipt of a young farmers payment
Inside the top 10 are former Ulster Farmers’ Union president Campbell Tweed, and the former chair of the National Beef Association in NI, John Sheridan, who farms with his son in Co Fermanagh.
Of the top 10 claimants, four were in receipt of a young farmers payment, which potentially allowed claimants to go straight to the NI average of €330/ha.
Average
Across all farms in NI, a total of 24,077 received direct payments, with an average payment per farm of £12,037, up from £11,323 the previous year.
The vast majority (14,915) received direct payments of less than £10,000. Only 5,974 farms had direct payments over £15,000; of this, 2,892 had payments over £25,000, 661 had payments over £50,000 and 87 had payments over £100,000.
Limit
Unlike other parts of the UK, there is an upper limit for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) element of a claim in NI. It is set at €150,000, although there is no limit on the greening payment, while the young farmers payment is also excluded. The figures published by Defra suggest this BPS ceiling only affected four claimants in NI.
In England, 549 farm businesses had direct payments of over £200,000, with the top claimant
Contrast that with the situation in Britain, where there is no BPS ceiling.
In England, 549 farm businesses had direct payments of over £200,000, with the top claimant, The National Trust, taking in £4.6m, followed by vacuum cleaner inventor James Dyson on £2.5m.
In Scotland, 112 farm businesses had direct payments over £200,000, with five at over £0.5m.
Across 17,865 claimants, the average Scottish farm received £25,432, more than double the same average in NI. It is also the highest average per farm anywhere in the UK, with the Welsh figure at £15,200 and the English at £21,360.
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