The decision by DAERA in 2021 to modify the cap placed on direct payments to farmers in NI has had an impact on the top payment recipients, including the Department’s own farm business operated as part of the CAFRE estate.

The latest payment list published by DEFRA relates to all direct payments to farmers in Britain and NI for the period from 16 October 2021 to 15 October 2022, so it is effectively the 2021 payment.

In that year, eight NI farm businesses had their payments capped at £190,000. That limit was introduced by DAERA as part of the process of removing the greening payment post-Brexit and incorporating it into the BPS, while also applying a permanent conversion of entitlements from euro to sterling.

Since 2015, NI had applied a limit of €150,000 on the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), but that did not apply to the greening element or young farmer top-ups. In 2020, CAFRE realised total direct payments of £240,059, thanks mainly to having a large 2,500 acre hill farm at Glenwherry in Antrim. Within the CAFRE total, over £100,000 came from an uncapped greening payment. NI is the only part of the UK to put an upper limit on direct payments.

Extra funding

For individual NI farmers, payments generally went up in 2021 after former Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots added one-off funding of £15.49m left over from a COVID-19 income support scheme. However, some who have featured prominently on the NI payment list in recent years have dropped down the order with their five-year young farmer top-up coming to an end.

In total, there were 23,931 farmers in NI who received over £200 in direct payments in 2021, with the average per farm coming to £12,969. A total of 121 farmers had payments over £100,000, with 797 having payments over £50,000.

Britain

The NI payment rates per farm are similar to Wales where 16,304 farmers received payments of at least £200, with an average per farm of £14,465. Only four Welsh farms had direct payments over the NI limit of £190,000.

However, the situation is very different in England and Scotland, where large landowners continue to receive huge amounts of public money, with no limits applying.

The English list continues to be headed by the National Trust and Dyson Farming Ltd, with direct payments of £3.56m and £3.4m respectively. In total, 963 businesses received direct payments over £190,000, with the average across 85,714 claimants of £27,231.

Scotland continues to lead the way in support per farm business, with 17,904 claimants averaging £44,536, and 536 of these with payments over £190,000.

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