Entitlements dilemma for 6,417

Leased entitlements attached to 6,417 herd owners will be lost to both lessor and lessee unless they are transferred permanently by sale or gift before May 15, 2014.

Where lessors have leased out all of their entitlements for a period which includes the 2013 single payment year (or leased out a portion of their entitlements, but did not draw down a direct payment in 2013), they will not have an automatic ‘allocation right’ to the Basic Payment Scheme in 2015. These 100% lessors will not be eligible to establish entitlements in their own right. Nor can they use a Private Contract Clause (PCC) to transfer entitlements to the lessee.

The Department of Agriculture is writing to all persons affected, to advise them.