NI Assembly votes to restore upland farm payment

The payment compensates upland farmers for operating on poor ground and in difficult weather

The assembly has voted to restore a payment for upland farmers similar to one removed two years ago.

It had been made to those in places like the Mournes, the Sperrins, Glens of Antrim and much of County Fermanagh.

It was to compensate them for the extra cost of producing cattle and sheep due to poor ground and difficult weather.

It was dispensed with in 2018 by then agriculture minister Michelle McIlveen, as farmers in these areas began getting improved levels of subsidy.

On Tuesday, the assembly supported a Sinn Féin motion calling for a replacement scheme.

But current Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots of the DUP has signalled his opposition saying he does not believe it is good use of public money.

The Area of Natural Constraint or ANC payment was introduced by Sinn Féin agriculture minister Michelle O'Neill in 2015.

Civil servants advised it would not be an effective way of tackling low farm incomes, but a ministerial direction meant it received the go-ahead.

It ran for two years and was worth £20m a year before being subject to review.

'Leveller'

Following the review, the then DUP minister Michelle McIlveen agreed a much-reduced budget for 2018 - and announced it would be the final year of the scheme.

Sinn Féin's Declan McAleer said the payments had been a "leveller", helping farmers in disadvantaged areas and the scheme's removal had had a "negative impact".

The ANC scheme was operating at a time when payments to upland and lowland farmers, who had traditionally had different levels of financial support, were moving towards a flat rate through a system of annual adjustments.

The process mainly benefited upland farmers although it has now stalled.

Mr Poots said farmers in ANC-eligible areas had already benefited from an additional £18m due to the move towards a flat-rate subsidy payment.

He said he did not intend to introduce a replacement scheme, but would concentrate on developing a funding model that reflected the needs of different regions and the difficulties of farming there.

The assembly voted in favour of reinstating a specific support scheme for upland areas by 48 votes to 29.

A spokesman from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said: "In order to introduce an ANC scheme, the funds would have to be provided by scaling back direct payments to all farmers, which would result in a further transfer of funding from disadvantaged areas and lowland to severely disadvantaged areas.

"The minister wants to devise schemes and support measures beyond 2020 that are good for all farmers and that provide the basis for a sustainable, profitable future."