Plans for future farm payments in Northern Ireland could cause thousands of claimants to fail to trigger support cash.

New rules are being proposed to increase the minimum area claimable for the Farming Resilience payment, revise activity reference years, and implement a stricter definition of an active farmer.

Future payments in Northern Ireland are expected to be based on four pillars, with the core Farming Resilience payment being most akin to the current Basic Area Payment. To claim this, farmers could need a minimum of five hectares, which is two more than previously required. However, the three-hectare threshold will be retained for environmental schemes.

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The new five-hectare limit has backing from many in the farming community but Stormont still has to sign off on the approval and some commentators doubt the change will pass.

Additionally, claimants will need to show activity in reference years 2020 and 2021 to be deemed eligible. This means that claimants must either be growing a crop or keeping livestock to qualify which could see around 1400 businesses fall out of the scheme.

Many of the businesses which could lose payments have historically let out their land for other farmers to graze with cattle or sheep. Some of those caught out will be able to use exceptional circumstances rules and a national reserve for new entrants to help those ‘inactive’ in the base years.

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However, there will not be a system for letting entitlements which will force many landowners to sell their entitlements unless they begin active farming.

How this will work in practice remains to be seen, as many landowner businesses look to claim government support in a bid to show farming activity for beneficial tax reasons.

Historically there has been a number of attempts in Northern Ireland to push ‘inactive’ farmers out of the payment system but since World Trade Organisation rules discourage payment directly linked to production, the NI department has struggled.

Further schemes being developed in Northern Ireland include a suckler cow payment. This scheme is similar to Scottish proposals, with a calving interval of 415 days needed for a cow’s calves to be eligible. Unlike Scotland, the Northern Irish plan is looking to progressively cut the calving interval down to 385 days over a four-year period.

Additional support to the cattle sector will also come through a beef finisher payment. All male bovines are eligible, while females must be beef or half-beef bred to gain a payment. The animals must also be slaughtered before 30 months of age, with payments worth £75 per head.

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The Ulster Farmers Union is seeking more headage payments for the sheep sector. However, this has yet to be agreed upon.

Policy manager for the UFU James McCluggage said: “It’s critical that going forward, DAERA effectively communicates with farmers about the new schemes and measures that will be phased in over the next number of years. This is vital to help ensure the sustainability of our unique family farm structure in NI as we move forward, delivering for the environment, local communities and consumers.

“To not have a sheep scheme currently in place under the new ag policy in similarity to what has been delivered for the other commodities has really impacted sheep farmers’ mentality and future outlook. Sheep farmers have some of the lowest farming incomes with many having to work off-farm, yet they still make a significant contribution to the NI economy and local communities, and are critical for preserving the landscape.

In upland areas, the land is only suitable for grazing sheep, enabling us to turn grass into quality food products. We continue to lobby to get this essential support for our sheep farmers across Northern Ireland.”