Transcript Document

CAP Reform
Direct Payments – 3 sections
An Introduction to the Basic Payment
Scheme, Greening Payment and Young
Farmers’ Payment
CAP Reform – Pillar 1
Eligibility of the LAND
Eligibility of the PERSON
Eligibility to establish and hold ENTITLEMENTS
Part 1. The Basic Payment Scheme
The Basic Payment Scheme
Goodbye Single Farm Payment Scheme
Hello to the Basic Payment Scheme, a Greening
Payment and a Young Farmers’ Payment.
The LAND - Entire holding must be declared including land taken in
conacre. Non-declaration of land can lead to penalties.
The PERSON - Active farmer only will have the right to establish
entitlements and receive payments for it.
Basic Payment Scheme Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme, applicants will
need to comply with all of the eligibility criteria. These include:
• Person - Active farmer;
• Land - at least 3 hectares of eligible land at their disposal
on 15th May 2015 (land claimed must also be eligible throughout
the calendar year);
• Entitlements - they must be eligible to establish at least 3
entitlements.
Land Eligibility Criteria - Overview
To be eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme, declared land
needs to meet all of the eligibility criteria. Fields must :
• have an eligible area of at least 01.ha
• have eligible vegetation and be in agricultural use
• be kept in a state suitable for grazing or cultivation and
• have agricultural activity carried out over the entire area being
claimed on a significant and consistent basis in the calendar
year of the claim.
CLAIM CAREFULLY!
Cross Compliance
Cross compliance rules will still have to be
adhered to.
• There will be some changes and renumbering of the current
rules, but they will be broadly similar.
•
Nitrates Action Plan measures have also been updated from 1
January. There are some changes so you should check what
these are.
•
There will be new guidance for 2015.
Entitlements
An entitlement is a right to claim aid under the Basic Payment Scheme
when associated with a hectare of eligible land
It is attached to the person/business not the piece of land
Establishing entitlements on an area of land does not mean that you
will always be able to claim entitlements on it
In future claims the land used to claim the Basic Payment can be
completely different to the land that was originally used to create the
entitlements. It can be owned, leased or taken in conacre
Establishing entitlements in 2015
Existing entitlements were cancelled at the end of December 2014
Farmers can establish new entitlements in 2015 if they:
• were in receipt of SFP in the 2013 scheme year (prior to the application
of any penalties) enabling them to activate at least €100 of payment
entitlements;
• are the Active farmer;
• have at least 3 hectares of eligible land at their disposal on 15th May
2015 (land claimed must also be eligible throughout the calendar year).
Land let under conacre arrangements
The person who is taking the land in conacre will be the one
eligible to establish entitlements and claim payments on this land
in 2015.
If there are exceptional circumstances which lead the landlord to
believe that he or she can meet the active farmer requirement even
though the land is let out, then it will be up to the landlord to
demonstrate these circumstances.
Alternative ways to establish entitlements
Farmers not in receipt of SFP in the 2013 scheme year can also
establish entitlements in the following scenarios:
• If they never held SFP entitlements but can provide verifiable
evidence of agricultural production activity on 15th May 2013;
• By applying to the Regional Reserve;
• By using a Private Contract Clause.
Alternative ways to establish entitlements
• If they never held SFP entitlements but can provide verifiable
evidence of agricultural production activity on 15th May 2013;
•Claimants will have to provide some information about the type of
farming they are undertaking, for example,
Beef
Dairy
Sheep
Other - In this case, additional evidence will have to be
provided
Private Contract Clause
Private contracts allow farmers, in certain circumstances, to
enter into a legal agreement to either:
• allocate the right to establish BPS entitlements to another
farmer that they have leased or sold land to; or
• transfer the corresponding BPS entitlements where they have
sold land to farmer
Further details are available on the Q and A on the DARD
website: www.dardni.gov.uk/qa-for-farmers-landowners-onchanges-to-sfp-from-2015-revision-11.pdf
What will an Entitlement be worth?
The value of new entitlements allocated in 2015 will be derived from
the value of SFP entitlements held on 15th May 2014 (i.e. those held for
the 2014 scheme year), including any entitlements purchased prior to
2nd May 2014.
Various reductions will be applied and the resulting total value of
entitlements will be divided by the eligible area declared in 2015 to give
the initial unit value.
Entitlement Value
UP
The initial unit value of entitlements below the regional average will
be increased by 71.4% of the difference between their initial unit value
in 2015 and the regional average by 2019.
DOWN
For entitlements above the regional average, a linear decrease will be
applied to the difference between the initial unit value in 2015 and
regional average by 2019. The size of the linear decrease is likely to be
close to 71.4%.
The transition between 2015 and 2019 will take place in equal annual
steps and is consistent with achieving a flat rate payment by 2021, i.e.
a seven year transition period.
Active Farmer – Negative List
EU legislation stipulates that from 2015, no direct payments shall be
granted to those who operate:
airports, railway services, waterworks, real estate services, permanent
sport and recreational grounds.
This is also known as the negative list.
These types of businesses will be prohibited from receiving payments
unless they can submit evidence to demonstrate their eligibility for
payment on or before 15 May 2015.
This requirement does not apply to businesses which received direct
payments (SFP) not exceeding €5,000 (prior to the application of
penalties) in the 2014 scheme year.
Active Farmer
• their agricultural activities are not insignificant (agricultural activities
are not insignificant if the eligible agricultural area of the farm business,
as declared on the application form, is at least 26 ha)
• their principal business or company objects consist of exercising
agricultural activity (agricultural activity will be considered as the
principal business or company object if receipts from agricultural
activities represent at least 40% of total receipts of the business in the
most recent fiscal year for which evidence is available)
A minimum claim threshold of €5,000 has been set when applying the
test (i.e. those businesses claiming below this threshold for the
previous year would not be subject to the test).
Active Farmer - make sure
• Decision making power, benefits and financial risks in relation to
the agricultural activity on the land being claimed for;
•DARD wrote to all SFP claimants in March 2014 to highlight this
requirement for 2015;
•Extended the entitlement trading deadline – some 12000 trades;
•Issued a further letter to 7200 claimants whose DARD records indicate
that they may not be able to meet the active farmer requirements for
2015;
•Compliance checks will be carried out in 2015 and all subsequent
years
Basic Payment - Controls
The Department will continue to carry out inspection controls to ensure
compliance with the rules. These include;
• On the Spot Checks
• Control with Remote Sensing
• A range of Administrative checks
Basic Payment – key points to remember
• New entitlements - Under the basic payment scheme a new set
of payment entitlements will be allocated to farmers who apply to
and meet the eligibility conditions of the scheme.
• Active farmer - one of the key conditions is that entitlements will
allocated only to the person having decision making power,
benefits and financial risks in relation to the agricultural activity on
the land for which such allocation is requested.
• Land eligibility – generally similar to SFP and requires close
checking of LPIS maps
Part 2. Young Farmers’ Payment
An educational qualification provides both an incentive and a reward for young
farmers and will assist in the development of a well skilled and professional
industry.
Young Farmers’ Payment
The Young Farmers’ Payment provides a top-up payment to the Basic
Payment for those qualify who as a young farmer.
The Regulations define young farmers as those who:
Are setting up for the first time an agricultural holding as head of the
holding, or who have set up such a holding during the five years
preceding the first submission of an application under the Basic
Payment Scheme; and
Are no more than 40 years of age in the year of first submission of
their application. i.e. A farmer who turns 41 at any time during 2015 will
not be eligible.
Young Farmers’ Payment
The Young farmer must be Head of Holding, exercising effective and
long-term control over the business in terms of decisions related to
management, benefits and financial risks.
Young farmers must have established and activated payment
entitlements under the Basic Payment Scheme.
Young farmer applicants must also have at least a Level II qualification
in agriculture (or a related subject containing at least a farm business
management module).
Young Farmers’ Payment
Single member businesses – Head of Holding is the member
Multi member businesses or 50:50 partnerships - between a young
farmer and a person(s) who is/are not a young farmer will only be
acceptable if it is clear that the young farmer can make decisions
without veto from the other partner(s).
Where 50:50 partnerships currently do not meet this requirement, it is
possible for the partners to agree to modify the partnership to either
include a provision whereby the young farmer can take decisions
without veto or increase the share of the young farmer above 50%.
Young Farmers’ Payment
The Young farmer will be regarded as head of holding for the purposes
of the Young Farmers’ Payment from the date at which the partnership
complies with the requirements.
Where there are several young farmers and other persons involved in
the business, then it must be clear that young farmers can control the
business – only 1 payment per business.
The top-up payment will be for a maximum period of 5 years but that
period will be reduced by the number of years elapsed between the
setting up as head of holding and the first year of application.
Young Farmer Payment – key points to remember
• Young farmer requirements –
• Age
• Educational qualification
• Head of Holding - it is essential that young farmers meet the
head of holding criteria
• Basic Payment Scheme - must be eligible to establish and
activate payment entitlements under the Basic Payment
Scheme
Young Farmer Payment - Controls
DARD will;
• Put robust controls in place to prevent the creation of artificial
conditions to gain access to this support
• Have a penalty system in place which can be used where fraudulent
activity is identified.
Regional Reserve
The Regional Reserve will be used to allocate entitlements to
the following groups:
• young farmers,
• new entrants, and
• those that were prevented from being allocated entitlements as
a result of force majeure or exceptional circumstances.
Young Farmers/New Entrants must also apply to the BPS if
applying to the Reserve
Regional Reserve
• Young Farmers/New Entrants must – have a Level II Qualification
• Young Farmers must –
• be under 40 years of age
• be setting up or have set up in the last 5 years as head of
holding
• New Entrants must –
• have commenced activity in 2013 or later
• have applied to BPS/Reserve within 2 years of commencing
• not have had any activity in own name/risk in previous 5 years
Regional Reserve
Evidence required to support applications from Young Farmers/New
Entrants is likely to be similar to that required for the Young Farmers’
Payment except New Entrants will not have to provide evidence of age.
Young Farmers/New Entrants can apply for allocation of entitlements or
to have the value of existing entitlements increased to the regional
average value.
Young Farmers/New Entrants can only apply once to the Reserve
Further information to be available at the end of this month
Part 3. Greening
Greening forms an integral part of CAP reform focusing on introducing
farming practices that are beneficial for the climate and the
environment.
Greening
From 2015, it will be mandatory for applicants to the Basic Payment
Scheme to comply with greening requirements.
If farmers do not establish any Basic Payment Scheme entitlements,
they will not receive the Greening Payment.
In Northern Ireland, the vast majority of applicants will meet their
greening requirements either :
• through having less than 10 hectares of arable land (be aware
of how conacre land was classified in the past); or,
• having at least 75% of their eligible agricultural area in
permanent grassland or temporary grassland.
Greening Payment
Greening payment calculated as a percentage of the total
value of entitlements activated by claimants each year.
For the first two scheme years (2015 and 2016), sanctions for non
compliance with greening requirements will result in a reduction in the
greening payment which may be substantial. From 2017, additional
penalties will be applied.
CHECK YOUR GREENING REQUIREMENT AND UNDERSTAND
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO COMPLY
Proposed Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) Scheme
to replace LFACA Scheme
• Similar eligibility conditions as the current LFACA Scheme but no
cattle bonus – subject to EU Commission approval
• Proposed that only SDA will be eligible for payment from 2015
• If agreed, will initially last for two years
• Payments must be degressive (i.e. the rate paid per hectare falls as
the area of eligible agricultural land claimed increases)
• Intention to have phase out payment to DA in the first year
Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS)
Three levels are planned:
• A targeted level – primarily for land in environmentally designated sites;
• A wider level – to deliver benefits across the countryside, outside of
environmentally designated areas; and
• A group level – to support co-operative action by farmers in specific
areas such as a river catchment or commonages.
Proposed Farm Business Improvement Scheme
(FBIS)
• The scheme will provide education, knowledge and skills and
capital investment to improve the competitiveness of the agrifood industry.
• Early focus will be on making advice and support available to
farmers to help them identify their needs clearly and make the
right decisions about developing their business.
• Targeted capital support to farmers to invest in their farm
businesses to improve profitability.
•
Further information
Further information on CAP reform is available on the DARD website
on www.dardni.gov.uk
If you have a specific query you can call the DARD Grants and Funding
Helpline number: 0300 200 7848
If you have queries regarding Greening you can contact DARD by
using the following email address: [email protected]
Basic Payment – Apply online.
Although you can still apply on paper from 2015, we would much
prefer to receive your application online
You can help us by using our Single Application online service
Why use online?
Its easy to use, safe, fast, provides access to the most up to date
information we hold, no queuing or posting, instant receipt of
application.
You will also have access to our improved map service so you can
view, print and report any map changes to us.
DARD Public Consultation on primary
communication channel.
DARD are carrying out a Public Consultation on the proposal to move
to the use of online as the primary channel for communicating and
transacting with its customers.
• We want to know what you think about our proposals, how
they affect you and the best way we can do this.
• Adverts will appear in your local press and in your local
DARD Direct Offices in February and March and we would
welcome your views and feedback on this proposal and how it
affects you.
CAP Reform – Pillar 1
Thank you and remember...
Eligibility of the LAND
Eligibility of the PERSON
Eligibility to establish and hold ENTITLEMENTS