Farmers Union And DARD Disagree On CAP Reform

Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) President Harry Sinclair has said there are still areas of disagreement regarding Agriculture Minister Michelle O'Neill's views of how Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform should be implemented.

The statement follows a meeting with Minister O'Neill and the UFU this week at Stormont to outline the Union's position on the implementation of the reformed CAP.

Mr Sinclair said: "Minister O’Neill assured us that no decision in respect of how CAP reform will be implemented in Northern Ireland has been taken so far. Nevertheless, it is obvious that the Minister holds some views, some of which she admitted are personal, on several of the significant issues that are very much at odds with what the Union believes is necessary for the success and sustainability of the NI agriculture industry going forward.

"On transition, and despite a previous DARD submission to the EU Commission arguing for a 10 year transition period on the basis that a shorter transition would be 'much too abrupt given the scale of support redistribution that will occur', it now appears that the Minister believes a shorter transition period is preferable.

"When it comes to regionalisation the Minister appears to be focused on addressing what she perceives as 'historical imbalances' rather than looking to the future and providing a support based incentive for farmers across all sectors and in all regions of Northern Ireland to meet the challenges of increasing productivity.

"We were genuinely surprised that neither the Minister nor her officials could see the contradiction in the fact that under the single region model, DARD’s own hill farm at Glenwherry will receive an increase in Single Farm Payment support of between two and three times without any meaningful change in the output or production from the farm."

Speaking after the meeting Minister O’Neill said: "I welcome the opportunity to meet with the UFU delegation to discuss CAP reform. There are many areas in which we are in agreement on the way ahead, but there are also a few areas of my CAP proposals where the Union and I have diverging views, notably on the question of the single region model.

"In the months ahead I will be considering the consultation responses carefully before decisions on implementation are made in preparation for notification to the EU Commission by 1 August 2014."

The UFU President concluded: "Although we were assured that no decisions have yet been taken, we are concerned that the Minister is being unduly influenced by a number of recently formed vociferous single interest groups. "The members of these groups have the most to gain from a single region and a quick transition but it will be at the expense of the vast majority of Northern Ireland’s farmers, particularly those in the DA region who will lose both a large part of their SFP and also their ANC support going forward."

(IT)