WALES SET FOR TRANSITION TO SINGLE REGION
BPS PAYMENT SYSTEM
The Welsh Government has finally
published its consultation on proposed
BPS payment systems
Farmers in Wales are facing the
prospect of moving to a flat rate
Basic Payment system, as options for
payment rates were finally unveiled by
the Welsh Government.
The long awaited consultation on new
proposals for the CAP Basic Payment
Scheme (BPS) in Wales, published on
Tuesday, sets out four options:
Option A: Three regional payment rates
Option B: A flat rate payment of €176/
hectare (€71/acre) immediately from
2015,
Option C: A gradual move to a flat rate
of €176/ha in equal steps by 2019
Option D: Tunnelling – which spreads
the change out over longer than five
years. The consultation suggests seven
years.
Current exchange rate: €1 = £0.73
However, the consultation document
all-but rules out options A and B.
The Welsh Government has made it
clear Options C and D are preferred,
with Option C considered ‘better’ as
it would allow the transition to area
payments to happen within this CAP
reform.
It had initially planned to introduce
a three-region
payment system
but was forced
to abandon the
planned moorland
line last year.
This followed a
judicial review
brought by
farmers above the
400m line who
complained the
system would
have set their
payments at only a tenth of those
received by farmers below the line, in
some cases on virtually identical land.
The consultation outlined the numerous
difficulties with establishing a regional
approach, including the lack of detailed
mapping information to make sure a
sufficient proportion of land could be
classified as being in the correct.
finalised, the DD (Direct Drill) is based
on the firm’s DTS (Direct Tine Seeder)
drill, launched at the same event two
years ago.
Using a very similar chassis and
3,600-litre hopper, the seeding element
is mounted at the rear and folds
horizontally, down either side of the
machine, for transport.
Hopper is split 50:50 to allow dual
products, such as seed and fertiliser, to be
placed together. Products are metered via
the manufacturer’s Orga metering system,
which as the name implies uses an auger
designed to be simpler to calibrate and
maintain, says Sumo.
Seeding units are mounted on a
parallelogram linkage, allowing them to
follow contours. Via a constant pressure
system, up to 200kg of pressure can be
DRASTIC CHANGE
It said moving to a flat rate this year
would be a ‘drastic change’ that would
be ‘difficult for claimants’, particularly
those facing big cuts in the lowlands.
Options C and D, while far removed
from its original intention of
implementing a regional system, at
least slow the transition, although they
do make the process more complex.
Under the flat rate system, 7,606
claimants, 47 per cent, are forecast to
have lower payments, including, for
example, many lowland dairy farms.
The 8,744, 53 per cent of farmers who
would have higher payments include
some with moorland who would see
huge increases in their payments.
The consultation includes various ‘add
on’ options intended to ease the pain of
transition to a flat rate system.
These include adding a Redistributive
Payment element to Option C. This
would involve a top up payment on the
first 54ha (133ac) of all payments.
The top up, which could be worth up
to 30 per cent of the direct payment
pot, would benefit smaller farmers and
minimise the redistribution effect for
many farms.
Under the system suggested in the
consultation, when transition to area
payments is completed in 2019, the
payment rate would be an estimated
€124/ha on all land with an additional
payment rate of €119 per hectare for
the first 54ha. All farms under 125ha
would benefit compared with a straight
flat rate.
The consultation document
acknowledged that none of the options
meet all of the policy goals of the
reform. But Option C, Option C with
Redistributive Payment and Option
D ‘fit the policy goals better than the
rest’.
But due to the complexity of the other
two, it notes Option C is likely to result
in BPS 2015 payments being made
earlier than under the other two.
RELENTLESS RATE OF DEVELOPMENT FROM SUMO
Sumo could never be accused of resting
on its