Defra’s dual use decision attacked by farm leaders

A long-awaited decision by Defra on whether to allow “dual use” of land under different CAP schemes has been attacked by farm leaders – although they disagree on the right way forward.

The most common example of dual use is where a tenant claims under the Basic Payment Scheme and a landlord claims under an agri-environment scheme.

The NFU had been lobbying for this practice to continue under the new Countryside Stewardship Scheme. However, the TFA had been arguing for an end to dual use, on the grounds that payments should only go to the people who are actively farming the land.

See also: Defra confirms dual use to continue for Higher-Tier scheme

Farm minister George Eustice revealed on Monday (21 September) that dual use will be allowed for higher-tier applications starting on 1 January 2016, but not for mid-tier applications until 2017.

This approach would allow environmental work to be delivered cost-effectively and over a larger area, without disrupting BPS payments, he said.  

But in response, TFA chief executive George Dunn accused Defra of making a decision which “defies logic and will perpetuate injustice in the landlord tenant system”.

If EU auditors objected to the move it could leave also leave England at risk of being fined by the EU, he warned.

“How can it be the case that on the one hand it is farm tenants who are deemed to have land at their disposal for the purposes of claiming under the new Basic Payment Scheme whilst their landlords can be deemed to have management control to allow them to have access to agri-environment schemes? Only those who have the land at their disposal are properly able to deliver the necessary management control required for Countryside Stewardship.

“We have an old-fashioned view in the TFA that the landlord’s legitimate return is rent, not from having access to schemes intended for the benefit of the farming community.”

In contrast, the NFU said farmers would be left frustrated that they had to wait a year for dual use under mid-tier.

And given the application period for mid-tier applications closes on 30 September, applicants only had days to change their forms.

NFU vice-president Guy Smith said: “While we welcome the decision to allow dual use for applications for next year, it is frustrating that Defra has taken until now to reach a decision on this year’s applications so late in the process. This confusion won’t encourage farmers to put in applications for this year.”