Modulation biggest CAP concern for farmers
A proposal to switch 15% from direct support payments to fund the Rural Development Programme has emerged as the biggest concern to farmers on Common Agricultural Policy reform.
The NFU canvassed 2,000 farmers during a series of meetings across England who reacted with dismay at the government’s apparent keenness to take the maximum 15% from direct support (Pillar 1) to rural development (Pillar 2).
The union’s chief CAP adviser Gail Soutar, who spoke at all of the 22 meetings, said: “Farmers told me they were at a loss in trying to understand why the government would want to do this and risk the industry’s competitiveness.
They simply do not understand when other member states appear to favour maintaining more direct support, she said.
The NFU’s chief economist Phil Bicknell echoed farmers’ concern and questioned the government’s approach.
“Maximising the transfer and then working out ways to spend it is the wrong approach,” he said.
Direct support remains the most cost-effective way to improve the rural economy, he added.
“Funding through direct support contributes directly to the local and rural economy. It helps with cashflow and it quickly moves out of farm business accounts and into the economy.
“A lot of second-hand machinery is bought in this way, which cannot be bought using grants from rural development. And neither farmers nor government would have incurred unnecessary administration costs in the process, he added.
Mr Bicknell also raised concern at the leaching of rural development funding where tens of millions of pounds were spent on non-farming projects.
“There are numerous examples of projects where it is difficult to see where the benefit to the farming and rural economy lies, Mr Bicknell said.
A consultation is due later this year on how RDP money should be spent and Mr Bicknell urged the government to make competitiveness key in a shift in thinking on how the funds should be spent.
“We now have a shift in long-term prospects for agriculture so it is vital, the next rural development programme should also shift, and focus on delivering a competitive agricultural industry in the period up to 2020 and beyond,” Mr Bicknell said.
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