As Scotland’s new CAP package moves by slow degrees towards completion, the calls for support to be linked to farming activity are becoming deafening.
NFU Scotland added to the crescendo by calling on the Scottish Government to match its verbal commitment to recognising activity with action, and asked for a “buy-in” to two of the available options.
These are, firstly the adoption of 2013 as the reference period for claims when the new scheme starts in 2015; and, secondly, the creation of a robust negative list of eligible activities to ensure funds are preserved for “real producers”.
According to NFUS, failure to take these options on board will certainly undermine production over the next year of uncertainty, but also has the potential to reduce output right up to 2020.
Limiting the allocation of area-based entitlements next year to the farmed area in 2013 would curtail a trend which sees those currently letting out land taking it back in hand in order to receive any area-based payments that could be attached to that land in the future.
That has implications for those heavily reliant on annual grass let arrangements and those very productive farm businesses that traditionally lease land on an annual basis for vegetable and potato production.
Failure to use 2013 as a reference year for Scotland’s future direct support scheme will deny both new and growing farm businesses land to rent.
Scottish Government is already required to implement, as part of any active farmer test, rules that ensure no payments will go to legal entities on a ‘negative list’ .
This already includes airports, railways, permanent sports grounds, waterworks and operators of real estate services.
NFU Scotland believes the list should also be opened up to include land primarily used for sporting purposes such as deer forest or for conservation.
Claims could still be permitted if such land were brought back into agricultural use or the primary land use was shown to be active farming.
NFU Scotland president Nigel Miller said: “Our intention from day one of this CAP reform process has been to support farming activity by genuine farmers at the helm of farm businesses.
“The option to link the allocation of entitlements to the area of land farmed in 2013 has the potential to create stability in the sector. That historic 2013 lock would be supported by the requirement to create a national reserve to ensure new entrants were not disadvantaged.
“Despite repeated calls from NFUS and other stakeholders for that 2013 reference period to be adopted, there has been no indication from Scottish Government that it will take up that opportunity to underpin active farming.
“That indecision is already having ramifications. A land grab has been triggered, with some owners of land taking it out of short term tenancy and grazing arrangements to gain control over the now crucial 2014 and 2015 claim years.”