Grants & Funding
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development administers grants and subsidy schemes supporting farming and the fishing industry. Most of the schemes are common EU schemes. The structure of the schemes is broadly similar to those in the Republic of Ireland, England, and Wales.
The Single Farm Payment was introduced by EU Regulation in 2003, replacing existing crop and livestock payments. It sought to break the link between production and support. Farmers are obliged to comply with so-called cross-compliance obligations in return for agricultural support. Scheme managers on behalf of the department are responsible for the operation of the scheme.
The Single Farm Payment scheme will end after 2014, with new schemes introduced in 2015 following Common Agricultural Policy Reform.
A farmer may claim payment from the Single Farm Payment scheme if they undertake agricultural activity and hold a category 1 business ID. They must hold Single Farm Payment entitlements, which were established historically from 2003 to 2005. They must ensure that fields or parts of fields are declared to activate SFP entitlements. The lands must be at the disposal of the farmer on 15th May each year.
The farmer must comply with cross-compliance obligations. Cross-compliance obliges farmers to comply with statutory management requirements and keep the land in good agricultural and environmental conditions.
These are required under several schemes, including Single Farm Payment, Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowance Scheme, Aid for Energy Crops and Protein Crop Premium, Organic Farming Scheme, NI Countryside Management Scheme, Woodland Grant Scheme, Farm Woodland Premium Scheme.
The statutory management requirements relate to a range of agricultural compliance and standards, including animal health and welfare, the environment, and animal welfare. The good agricultural and environmental conditions relate to soil erosion, organic matter, soil structure ensuring minimum levels of maintenance. Penalties may be imposed for failure to comply with cross-compliance obligations.
The Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowance supports farmers in areas that are less naturally favoured. They are generally remote hill land with difficult topography and poor soil conditions. Pure farming activities may be sustained. The objective of the scheme is to improve the environment by differentiating to reflect the different levels of severity of natural handicap.
Less favourable land is divided into common land, disadvantaged areas, and single severely disadvantaged areas. There are graded aid per hectare for each category.
Applicants must farm at least three hectares of eligible forage land in a severely disadvantaged area or disadvantaged area, keep enough eligible stock to meet the minimum 0.25 livestock units per hectare from 1 April to 31 October, meet the cross-compliance requirements, and agree to farm in the Less Favoured Area for 5 years.
The Northern Ireland Countryside Management Scheme commenced under the Rural Development Programme 2007 to 2013. This is a voluntary scheme providing financial support to farmers and landowners to adopt farming practices to improve the countryside. It seeks to improve biodiversity, water quality, ameliorate the impact of climate change, and enhance the landscape. It is funded under Axis 2 of the Rural Development Programme.
The scheme provides for payments in return for requirements and obligations undertaken. General environmental requirements, cross-compliance, food, boundary management, farm nutrient and waste management, and agreement management are compulsory. There are minimum entry environmental benefits that all agreement holders must achieve under their agreement.
They are agreed upon at the farm audit. There are optional habitat enhancements covering a range of enhancement types. Eligibility and availability of enhancements vary. After a farm audit is completed, there are basic payments and enhanced payments depending on the nature of the agreement entered.
Most woodlands are eligible for forestry grants. There are a number of schemes under the existing programme, including the Sustainable Forest Operation Grant Scheme, Farm Woodland Premium Scheme, Woodland Grant Scheme, wood stocking grant, Woodland Environmental Grant.
Each scheme has terms and conditions. The level of grant depends principally on planting and stocking levels.
There is a range of rural development grants under the rural development programmes. They provide support for a range of products, including diversification into non-agricultural activities, business development and creation, support for small businesses, encouragement of tourism activities, improvement of basic services in rural areas, including improving attraction for some rural areas through improvement of basic schemes, village renewable and development, conservation and upgrading of rural heritage.
EU Agricultural and Forestry Processing and Marketing Grant supports the agricultural processing sector. It is available to small to medium-sized enterprises in the agricultural and horticultural sector who are involved in processing and marketing and is available for eligible capital costs.
The Farm Modernisation Programme seeks to assist competitiveness and improve competitiveness in agricultural and horticultural farm businesses. It provides financial support to existing businesses to improve performance through a number of key investment areas, including new technology and innovation, improved animal health and welfare, increased hygiene control, enhanced occupational safety, increased energy efficiency, enhanced environmental status.
An application must be made annually for Single Farm Payment. Most applicants hold standard entitlements. They must have an equal number of eligible hectares at their disposal on May 15th each year and must remain in eligible use for the entire calendar year, other than in exceptional circumstances.
Special entitlements require the maintenance of agricultural activity at a certain level. There are rules for converting special entitlements to standard entitlements. Single farm entitlements must be activated at least once every two years; if they are not activated, they return to the national reserve.
Payment entitlements were established in 2005, and there is very little scope for any variation. Entitlements can be transferred and sold by way of the sale of land, sale without the land lease, or through inheritance. Applications must be made to transfer or trade entitlements.
The Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowance provides for an area-based payment of eligible hectares of SDA land and NDA land and a cattle bonus. It increases the area-based payment for owners who are #[08:59] 5% or more of their eligible livestock units and suckler cows or heifers.
Approximately 40% of farmed land is managed through the Countryside Management Scheme and the Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme. This land is the subject of enhanced environmental agreements.
Management agreements require field boundary management, farm nutrient and waste management, and agreement management. The minimum entry environmental benefit must be undertaken by all participant schemes. Farmland habitat enhancement biodiversity options and water quality options requirements are specified.
In addition, there are minimum entry environmental benefits enhancement options. This gives a menu of options.
Habitat enhancement options included measures in the area of farm waterway and riparian zone management, grass margins, hill boundary restoration, traditional orchards, traditional breeds, delayed cutting and grazing of grassland, organic management, annual heather or bracken control.
The further enhancement measures include tree planting and management, bat and bird boxes, riverbed enhancement, traditional wooden gates, traditional metal gates, protective fencing, plastic recycling, bracken control, heather regeneration, measures in relation to features of historic interest.
Forestry grants are administered by the Northern Ireland Forestry Service under the Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme. Grants cover the creation of new woodland, restocking of previously felled areas, and the management of existing mature and semi-mature woodland stock.
Proposals for the reform of the CAP were published by the commission in October 2011. Political agreement and reform on CAP were reached in June 2013 between the Commission, Parliament, and Council. The Council of the Ministers has adopted four basic regulations.
The regulations provide the rules for direct payment to farmers, support for rural development, financial management and monitoring of the CAP, common organization for markets and agricultural products. There were transitional arrangements for 2014.
The overall level of CAP budget has fallen by approximately one seventh. The Single Farm Payment will be replaced by new direct payments made up of a basic payment and payment for greening contributing to the environment on top of payments for young farmers. There is potential for a number of other optional payments, including a coupled payment and redistributive payment. Top-up for farmers in disadvantaged areas and the small farmer’s scheme. They need not be used in each country.
Member States have a number of options. Flat-rate scheme involves all hectares in the region, attracting the same level of support from the basic payment scheme. This differs from the differential entitlements per hectare within the single payment scheme. States can move to a flat-rate scheme immediately or on annual steps by 2019.
There is capping of direct payments above, €150,000. The countries may cap all or a percentage of payment above this amount. Greening requirements include permanent grassland, ecological focus areas, and crop diversification. A range of cross-compliance obligations are likely to continue to apply.
Under the Development Loans (Agriculture and Fisheries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1968, the Department of Agriculture may establish the Agricultural Loans Fund. The Department may prepare loan schemes to enable any loans to be made for the purchase and installation of any agricultural equipment, implements, machinery, etc., by way of a loan, may require mortgage security for the loans, may make requirements relating to the nature of the expenditure. It may impose conditions, which are directly or in any registered charge affecting the land.
The Department must keep accounts of the operations of the Agricultural Loan Fund. Loans may also be provided for fishery development. Similar provisions may apply. They may need to be registered.
Interest on the loans is determined by the Department of Finance from time to time.
Loans may not be made for the purpose of discharging existing debts.