Hill sheep swappers targeted

Landowners swapping livestock, spending three months here and three months there, so that two areas could qualify for disadvantaged area payments, will be targeted by the new eligibility criteria announced in the December budget.

“The stocking rate required to qualify for a disadvantaged area payment was incredibly low, at around one sheep per hectare. We have doubled that now and asked farmers to have two sheep per hectare, which is less than one sheep per acre. This is still a very low stocking rate. We also said that instead of having to keep their stock for three months of the year, farmers would have to keep their stock for six months of the year. In other words, farmers would have to be farming,” said Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney.

“What we are saying is that we have a limited amount of money to spend, so let us give it to the people who are actively farming and who need that income the most,” he said, adding that he worked with farming organisations, farmers and stakeholders to find a way of saving money.