Ulster Farmers’ Union Hill Farming Chairman Ian Buchanan has said that the confirmation that applications will open for a Transitional Payment to the Disadvantaged Area (DA) Scheme from 1st February 2015 will help to ease the blow to DA farmers who will not be eligible for the Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme proposed under the new Rural Development Programme. The comments were made following Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill’s announcement on the Scheme.
Ian Buchanan said: “It is very disappointing that this will be the final payment on DA land. This land, which previously qualified for support under the old Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances (LFACA) will not be eligible for the new Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme. LFACA payments have been an important element of farm incomes on DA land for many years, which the NI Executive recognised during last year’s CAP negotiations. At that time they approved this one year transitional payment to be funded by the NI Executive rather than at an EU level. The payment rate per hectare will be £14.40/ha on all eligible land and this will go some of the way to soften the blow to DA farmers, giving them a bit of a breathing space as they work on a plan for their businesses to adapt to the loss of this payment.
“In our discussions with DARD around this scheme, we have been assured that they intend to keep the process as simplistic and straightforward as possible. Applications are due to be issued to all 2014 DA claimants in the next number of weeks and we would encourage all of those eligible to ensure their applications are submitted no later than 13th March 2015 so that payments can be made swiftly in June.”
