A6 LFA annex.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

More documents

Recommendations

Info

MID-TERM EVALUATION OF THE RDP WALESThe introduction of the Tir Mynydd scheme brought about a major change in the delivery ofcompensation to hill farmers in that the payments are not, as were HLCA payments, based upon theheadage of livestock but rather on the area of the holding. There were fears that this woulddisadvantage a significant number of farmers and as a result a ‘safety net’ ensuring a minimumpayment to all farmers will operate to 2004. There is concern within the farming lobby that theremoval of the safety net in 2004 will be a serious event for Welsh farmers, though Assembly officialsconsider that its removal will mainly affect those on more heavily stocked farms.A6.2. Eligibility and levels of grantTo be eligible for the scheme, farmers must farm at least 6 hectares of forage land within the LFA byraising suckler cows and/or breeding ewes. In the 2002 application year a minimum stocking densityof 0.1LU/ha applied with no formal maximum stocking rate given. In the 2003 application year therehas been a requirement that stocking densities are kept either below 1.4LU/ha or below or equal to1.8LU/ha. In addition farmers can gain extra payments (up to a maximum of two extra payments) iftheir farm exhibits any of the following ‘enhancements’:• mixed cattle and sheep (cattle may be dairy or beef);• organic status;• a minimum of 2% (or 1 ha) in arable crops;• stocking rate below 1.2 LSU per hectare;• stock is removed from common land for three months between September and February;• a minimum of 2% (or 1 Hectare) of fenced woodland in which grazing is managed (although this isnot applicable if payments are received from other schemes e.g. the Farm Woodland PremiumScheme);• membership of an approved farm assurance scheme.Levels of grant vary between Disadvantaged (DA) and Severely Disadvantaged Areas (SDA) of theLFA. Current rates are £35 per hectare for SDA and £23 per hectare for DA, with the possibility ofup to 10% extra paid for one enhancement and up to 20% for a second enhancement. Payments aretapered to avoid over-compensation to very large farms, with tapering not applying for the first 140hectares, a 35% reduction thereafter up to 640 hectares and a 70% reduction above 640 hectares.A6.3. PaymentsApplication for payments under the Tir Mynydd scheme are made through the annual IACS form andall eligible farmers are paid the allowance (i.e. there is no quota). Applications recorded andnumbers of payments from 2000 (i.e. including the last year of the HLCA scheme) are given in (TableA6.1).4
MID-TERM EVALUATION OF THE RDP WALESTable A6.1: Applications and payments to HLCA and Tir Mynydd 2000-2003Total applications Approved payments Payment as a proportionof applicationsHLCA 2000 12,509TM 2001 14,711 12,020 82%TM 2002 12,342 11,194 91%TM 2003 1 11,997 10,841 90%Source: WOAD.Note: 1 data for 2003 as at 10 November 2003.It would appear that approved payments fell by a relatively small amount when the change to thearea-based Tir Mynydd took place. A rather larger decline in both application numbers and approvedpayments would seem to have taken place since then, but this has had the effect of increasing theproportion of approved payments to applications made.Total payments made and number of approved claims are used in Table A6.2 to present the averagepayments made between 1998 (under the previous HLCA system) and 2003 under Tir Mynydd.Table A6.2: Average HLCA and Tir Mynydd claims per holdingHLCAsTir MynyddNotes:Total payments (£ million) Approved claims Average claim per holding1998 £27.1 12,134 £2,2331999 1 £42.4 12,163 £3,4862000 2 £42.1 12,509 £3,3662001 3 £42.2 12,020 £3,5112002 £38.7 11,194 £3,4572003 £37.1 10,841 4 £3,4221HLCA rates were increased across the board by approximately 55% as part of aid package.2HLCA rates maintained at 1999 levels.3Normal £27 million LFA support budget increased following the Action Plan for Farming announced following the PrimeMinister's summit in March 2000 in recognition of the pressures on livestock farming.4Claims paid out as at 10/11/03.More than half of participants in Tir Mynydd receive two enhancements (56%). More than a third(37%) receive one enhancement. The number of Tir Mynydd participants taking up each individualenhancement is presented in Table A6.3.5
Page 8 and 9: MID-TERM EVALUATION OF THE RDP WALE
Page 10: MID-TERM EVALUATION OF THE RDP WALE

A6 LFA annex.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?