New NI farm subsidy system

The British government is to introduce a new system for European farm subsidy payments in Northern Ireland next year, it was annunced today.

Northern Ireland Office Agriculture Minister Ian Pearson confirmed the full decoupling of European support would take place in Northern Ireland from January 1 in the dairy, beef, arable and sheep sectors – breaking the link between subsidies and farm production.

Farmers in the North will receive single farm payments instead of subsidies based on the amount of livestock they have or the number of hectares they grow cereals on.

The minister told the Northern Ireland Rural Stakeholder Forum at Stormont: “Looking at the various options available to us, there was every indication that partial decoupling may keep production at a higher level, but for no income benefit to the industry.

“It would also retain the bureaucracy and restrictions of the current support regimes and continue to distort market signals.

“The industry must be market focused and it must have the freedom to farm in response to market demands.

“For these reasons, I have decided to implement full decoupling in the beef, sheep and arable sectors from 2005.”

“I have come to the conclusion that, given the phased reductions in market support within the dairy sector which commence this year, it is best that the sector decouples at the earliest opportunity, and in full, so that the transition to a decoupled direct support regime is more gradual and more orderly.

“Having weighed up the various possibilities and implications carefully, I have decided that full decoupling in the dairy sector should proceed in Northern Ireland in 2005.”

Decoupling is being introduced as part of the reform of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy.

It is hoped the reforms will persuade farmers to maintain their land in good agricultural and environmental condition.

Ulster Farmers’ Union president John Gilliland welcomed the decoupling plan, claiming it would help agriculture in Northern Ireland to adapt the demands of the global food market.

“The farming industry is now facing fundamental change,” he said.

“Farmers will have the flexibility to make their own decisions and will no longer be tied to the current subsidy system. Farm businesses will be free to make decisions based on the demands of the marketplace.

“There will also be a new emphasis on issues such as the environment, food quality and food safety”.

Mr Gilliland said the farming industry was responding positively to change.

However he warned that the long-term sustainability of the farming industry in Northern Ireland still depended on local agricultural production receiving a fair market price from the food chain.

“The increasing trend towards cheap food imports from other countries is undermining the local industry,” the UFU president warned.

“Farming in Northern Ireland will be focused on quality and high production standards, but this can only be delivered at a considerable production cost. Consumers need to be aware of this.”

The British government’s decision to opt for full decoupling in Northern Ireland was welcomed by Alliance Party leader David Ford, Sinn Féin’s European Election candidate Bairbre de Brun and Ulster Unionist farming spokesman Tom Elliott.