Brown hints at more funding for organic farmers
Brown hints at more funding for organic farmers
By Alistair Driver
FUTURE government assistance for farmers will increasingly be based around agri-environment schemes and marketing initiatives, according to farm minister Nick Brown.
Before announcing the governments response to the latest MAFF forecast of further falls in farm incomes in London on Monday, he suggested that the government may introduce "a modest form of modulation" (see News, Nov 26).
The cash raised would then fund agri-environment initiatives and hinted that more funding for organic farmers could be in the pipeline.
The government has l154 million (£101m) from the EU to pay for initiatives under the new Rural Development Regulations, which were agreed by the European farm ministers in March as part of the Agenda 2000 reform package in an effort to broaden farmers roles in sustaining the countryside and local economy.
No modulation supporter
The Treasury is required to match EU funding, and Mr Brown said he is trying to secure more money for RDR initiatives, which include Environmentally Sensitive Areas and Countryside Stewardship schemes, marketing programmes and a possible early retirement scheme.
"Although I am not a supporter of modulation, I think it would be an acceptable way forward, if it could be used to lever more money into RDR initiatives," he said.
He repeated his support for "degressivity" in which direct payments to farmers are reduced on a year-by-year basis in a way that is proportional to the amount of support received and the money saved is redirected into agri-environment schemes.
Conditions for support
He said he would only support modulation if the money saved from direct payments was matched by the Treasury. Member states are allowed to cut direct payments by up to 20%, but Mr Brown suggested that, if modulation is introduced, it will be at much lower levels.
He said farming bodies are generally opposed to it and have told him that, in areas where farmers are heavily dependent on subsidies, a 1% cut in support payments can lead to a 2% cut in income.
One-fifth of farmers receive 80% of subsidies and will suffer accordingly if some of the payments are removed, he said.
Mr Brown said he was "pretty confident" that a further tranche of money will be made available for a successive organic scheme, following further discussions with the Treasury about securing matched funding. *