Talks on arable area cash soon
Talks on arable area cash soon
PRESSURE to alter the UKs yield and base areas which are used to set arable area payments is building.
Agriculture ministers are expected to hold talks any day, with Scotland and Northern Ireland pushing for a single regional UK yield. This, says Francis Mordaunt of farm business consultants Andersons, is expected to be about 5.83t/ha (2.36t/acre), which would cut payments in England by about 1%.
However, it would result in a 3% gain for Scottish lowland growers, while their Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts would receive increases of 13% and 12% respectively. Less favoured areas would gain even more.
The same countries are also pushing for a single UK base area. Scotland has suffered high over-planting penalties recently, with lowland growers hit by a 6.3% deduction in 1999.
However, support from other countries may not be so strong on this issue. MAFF forecasts suggest a UK base area would result in an overshoot of 2.5% (roughly twice typical English levels).
Although Scotland would benefit, Wales and Northern Ireland have never been penalised. And Wales can grow maize without penalty at the moment. Although it exceeds that base area it can offset the excess against an unused portion of non-maize area, an advantage it would lose under a UK-wide scheme.
"One can see why Scotland is pushing so hard for this," says Mr Mordaunt. "However, it is probably running out of time. MAFF can hardly change the scheme without proper consultation. But the proposals are very likely to come up for serious consideration next year."