The Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA) Wexford chair, Jer O’Mahony, is set to join a seminar at the Royal Welsh Show today (Monday, July 22) centred on differences in agricultural policy in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
The four panelists include:
- IFA Wexford chair, Jer O’Mahony;
- UK National Sheep Association (NSA) chief executive, Phil Stocker;
- UK National Beef Association (NBA) chief executive, Neil Shand;
- Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) head of policy, Gareth Parry.
FUW head of policy, Parry, said: “It’s clear to see how our departure from the European Union and lack of common frameworks across the UK has allowed each of the home nations to design their own agricultural support schemes.
“This in turn is and will result in divergence not only between EU and UK policies, but also between UK nations – this could become problematic for our food supply chains due to the way in which food goods are produced, processed, transported and sold throughout the UK.”
The Royal Welsh Show will run until Thursday, July 25, at the Royal Welsh Showground, Llanelwedd, near Builth Wells, in Powys, Mid Wales.
Ireland
The Wexford IFA chair will discuss how Ireland is the only one of the countries in focus that remains within the European Union Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Ireland retains direct payments through the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) – the area-based direct support payment that farmers in Wales will continue to receive up until 2025 (notwithstanding the transition to the SFS).
“However, they still face an uplift in environmental regulations and increased bureaucracy as part of the EU regime,” Parry said.
“Rural businesses and communities in Ireland are also feeling the effects of the challenges being faced by farmers.”
Wales
The Welsh government has consulted and engaged with stakeholders on the design of its Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) since 2018.
Earlier this month, the Welsh government announced that it intends for the SFS to commence in 2026.
The SFS in 2026 will be preceded by a ‘preparatory phase’ in 2025, providing advice and support to farmers in advance of the scheme’s introduction.
“The first draft looked very similar to what has inevitably become the reality in England – a public money for public goods scheme,” Parry said.
“Thanks to years of lobbying, we have made some significant changes to the scheme – not least the inclusion of a universal baseline ‘area-based’ payment.”
While the scheme is in its final stages of design, Welsh government officials and stakeholders are still reworking the scheme, Parry said.
England
In England, the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is being implemented, which includes a “pick a mix” of 102 environmental and animal health related actions, Parry said.
“This provides flexibility and payment rates for many of these actions that are attractive,” he said.
“However, it does not provide a noteworthy whole-farm payment which we believe is crucial in Wales to provide economic stability for family farms.”
By this year, English farmers have lost around 70% of their direct farm support payments as part of its transition to the SFI.
Parry said there is also an absence of monitoring and assessments of the actions being undertaken.
Scotland
Parry said Scotland is “further behind” with the development of its future plans.
“However, the Scottish government recently announced plans to provide 70% of future support in the form of direct payments from 2027 onwards with the remaining 30% being targeted at environmental measures alongside the continuation of Less Favoured Area (LFA) payments,” he said.
Last week, Scottish farmers received information on how to start preparing for changes being made to how farm supports are received.
In a letter to those receiving funding, the Scottish government’s Rural payments and Inspections Division said the first changes to agricultural support will come into effect in 2025.
Although the schemes are not changing, some of the things Scottish farmers will have to do to receive support are new.
New conditions will be introduced to Cross Compliance in 2025. These are new peatland and wetland standards which will be added to GAEC 6 – Maintenance of soil organic matter.
These standards will prohibit a range of activities from being carried out on peatland and wetland areas, including ploughing and cultivations and reseeding.
