HLCAinaction spells gloom
FAILURE to increase hill livestock compensatory allowances in next weeks Budget could deliver a fatal blow to many farm businesses.
The stark warning came from NFU president Sir David Naish speaking on Wed. "In a weeks time the UKs 60,000 hill farmers will know if the government has thrown them a lifeline in the form of increased HLCAs," said Sir David.
Further cuts or a freezing of current HLCA payments would "signal the beginning of the end for hill farming", he added.
A recent NFU survey in north-east England revealed that a third of hill farmers spent more than £2000 in their local community at a time when four out of every 10 hill farmers earned less than £10,000 last year. *
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