The Farmers’ Union of Wales has welcomed the Welsh Government’s decision to move from historical payments to a flat rate Basic Payment with ‘top-up’ payments on the first 54-hectares over a period of five years.
The decision to introduce the system - referred to in the EU regulations as ‘redistributive payments’ - was announced by deputy minister Rebecca Evans in a Welsh Assembly plenary session today (July 7).
The option would mean moving from the current historically based model towards estimated payments of €243 for the first 54-hectares of eligible land per farm and €124 for all remaining eligible land by 2019.
FUW president Glyn Roberts said: “In their responses to the recent consultation on the Basic Payment Scheme, the majority of our twelve county executive committees agreed that the phased introduction of a 54-hectare top-up model paid at the maximum rate was the only realistic option at this stage, given that regional payments have been ruled out.”
Mr Roberts said there was widespread frustration that the maps held by Welsh Government are now not believed to be sufficiently accurate to implement a regional payment model, which would allow higher payments to be made on better quality land, without breaching the regulations.
“As such, the number of realistic options was severely depleted, with the top-up option being the only approach which met the objective agreed by government and stakeholders of minimising disruption,” he said.
The 54-hectare top-up would benefit those with around 125-hectares (300 acres) or less of eligible land when compared with a uniform 2019 flat rate of around €176, reducing financial losses for around 70 percent of claimants. In particular the approach would help mitigate losses for those sectors likely to be worst hit by the implementation of a uniform flat rate payment model.
However, Mr Roberts acknowledged that the deputy minister’s support for the union’s position would not be popular with all.
“The majority of our membership gave us a clear mandate to support the implementation of the top-up option, and I therefore welcome the Welsh Government’s support for our position.
“However, it’s estimated that around 30 percent of recipients would have been better off under a flat rate system, while for a large number the top-up approach will merely reduce the losses they would experience under any system.
“We must therefore ensure that our rural development programme focusses on helping those who are set to lose most under the payment system adopted in Wales,” he added.