Following a period of public consultation on the Countryside Care Scheme, the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) is taking its proposed changes to Tynwald in March.
The scheme supports farmers to become market-focused while helping them to manage the landscape. In 2014/15, it’s anticipated that payments totalling £6.8 million will be made to more than 350 recipients.
DEFA has published its proposed changes in the light of the consultation feedback.
The changes are based on the Department’s consideration of a series of recommendations after the scheme was examined by Tynwald’s Environment and Infrastructure Policy Review Committee at the request of Tynwald.
It is proposed that the revised scheme will:
- Lower the qualifying threshold to 12.5 acres in line with schemes in EU member states.
- Introduce a model of ‘front-loading’, or weighting, payments to smaller farms.
- Redirect £350,000 of the budget to enable the Department to support businesses, in line with the Food Matters strategy’s aims to stimulate growth, innovation and profitability in the food sector.
- Be called the Agricultural Development Scheme to better reflect its purpose and signal the intent to run it beyond 2018, the original expiry date.
- Introduce an ‘active farmer’ clause, to target payments to those managing land and carrying out agricultural activity.
- Include orchards to encourage crop diversification, acknowledging the new cider market.
- Introduce additional support for young farmers, similar to the EU, with 25% additional area payments up to a maximum of £4,000 for five years for those eligible.
The proposed changes will be monitored to ensure they do not create unintended impacts and, at this stage, it is proposed that the revised scheme will not include any of the following proposals, which had been considered:
- An outright cap on payments. The Department believes this is counter to the efficient operation of larger farms and the rebalancing of payments to smaller and more intensive farmers is already addressed. This is intended to provide some acknowledgement of the smaller units’ higher level of fixed costs per acre, while avoiding disincentives to restructuring and expansion.
- Re-coupling of support to production, a move opposed by the majority of consultation responses. It is believed that this would have the effect of insulating producers from market requirements. Focus will remain on improving efficiency and delivering improved returns from the market, acknowledging that processors currently process more than they can market and sell profitably.
- Measures to disincentivise live export. Export of quality breeding stock is an important, profitable and growing sector of the industry and explicit measures would be in contravention to Protocol 3.
- An increase in the number of land classes. The current classification system is considered the most appropriate balance of land productivity and bureaucracy, acknowledging the transitional nature of the scheme.
Richard Ronan MHK, Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture, thanked everyone who took part in the consultation.
He said:
‘I believe that, on balance, these amendments will enhance the scheme, improve the public perception of value for money and ensure we have stability during the transition from a production-based system to a market- focused and profitable future.
‘This market focus also supports my Department’s strategy to grow the Isle of Man food and drink industry by £50 million, which was unanimously approved by Tynwald in November 2014.’
