Union looking for speedy post-brexit support move
The transition to a new domestic agricultural support system for Scotland should begin as early as 2021, NFU Scotland has proposed.
Outlining the plan which it has drawn together for the post-brexit era at a series of meetings around the country, the union is advocating a three-tiered support system which is based on active farming rather than land occupation.
And the exercise has revealed a considerable divergence from what appears to be the Scottish Government’s “steady-asshe-goes” proposal of continuing with a tweaked form of the current common agricultural policy measures through an extended transition period lasting until 2024.
Speaking during the second week of the roadshow’s tour around the country, director of policy Jonnie Hall said that while there was undoubtedly a need for stability within the industry, there was also an over-riding need for the change to a new system to get under way.
“Everyone is acutely aware that we must avoid a cliff edge in terms of moving to a new system,” said Hall. “But we also have to realise that Brexit gives us an opportunity to come up with a support system which is far better suited to Scotland.”
Clearly frustrated at the lack of progress on official proposals, the union has been drawing together and refining its plans for more than two years. Members are being told that while the union would be calling for the overall amount of support to remain at least equal to what is currently being paid, under the new system this would be paid out under three new headings, for which active farming would play a key role.
These would include a “financial stability” payment – broadly similar to current payments but based on “actively farmed hectares”– supplemented by non-competitive productivity and environmental measure payments which Hall described as “land managers options (LMOS) on steroids” aimed at delivering “public goods” while also providing “meaningful results” for farm businesses with the third support leg being made up of a competitive tranche, similar to the current rural development programme measures.
“In the initial years the financial stability tier would account for the majority of income support,” said Hall. “But this would be reduced on a sliding scale over a period of years as the non-competitive productivity and environmental measures increased.”
He added that while initially it was hoped that the transition period would be completed by 2027, if the UK came out badly in the trade deals or if the system was found not to be working, reliance on the stability sector could be extended.
One of the main architects of the new “actively farmed hectares” proposal, vice-president Martin Kennedy, said that simplicity was the key, with a flat rate being paid for all adjusted hectares across the country: “Effectively a hectare would be actively farmed if a crop was grown or harvested on it or if it was eligible for environmental measures. On the livestock side a stocking density of 0.8 livestock units per hectare would be taken as the qualifying level – but where this was not met the hectarage would be adjusted accordingly.”