The Ulster Farmers’ Union has welcomed the progress made in relation to the Young Farmers’ Scheme under the 2015 Common Agriculture Policy Reform.
UFU President Ian Marshall said; “Young farmers are the future of our industry so it is imperative, as the UFU has supported, that we ensure there is adequate assistance available to them under the new CAP. Since the announcement of the scheme, we have had many questions in relation to the practicalities. DARD’s latest announcement will answer many of these and in particular clear up some of the uncertainty around the Level II qualification in agriculture eligibility requirement. We are particularly pleased that DARD will be providing a free, part-time accredited training course over the autumn and winter so that those young farmers who do not already have such a qualification but satisfy all the other criteria will not miss out on the scheme.
“A good start has been made on developing this scheme, however, there is still a fair amount of detail to be worked out including clarification on the EU’s ‘head of holding’ requirement and the actual application process. The UFU will continue to be involved in the associated delivery discussions of this important scheme. In particular, we want to ensure that the relevant information is made available as quickly as possible to give sufficient time for individuals to make informed decisions about the future of their farm businesses.”
