ANC payments: scope is there to secure cash

THE Dept. of Agriculture should be in a position to ensure that Irish farmers don’t lose out on any payments in the current ANC review, according to a senior IFA representative, following discussions with the EU Commission last week.

IFA Rural Development Chairman Joe Brady said that following a key meeting with EU Commission officials, it was clear that there were sufficient flexibilities in place in the EU Guidelines to Designate ANC Areas to protect areas already classified in the upcoming review.

He said that member states can make a case based on local conditions to ensure that areas retain their status and continue to qualify for payments and to secure increases as well.

“Under this criteria, low stocking rates, standard output per hectare, length of growing season, and farming systems can be taken into account in determining qualifying areas. We were told that it is up to member states to quantify data under these headings, which will allow flexibilities to operate.

“In addition, Ireland can make a case for areas that have difficulty in qualifying under the new biophysical criteria by classifying them as areas with specific constraints.

This should allow the various options to be used as it can add an additional 10% of the utilisable area (about 500,000ha) in addition to those areas that would qualify under the biophysical criteria,” said Joe Brady. In Ireland, the highest payment under the ANC (Areas of Natural Constraint) of €250 per hectare applies to the offshore island, considered to the most naturally disadvantaged area for farming in the country.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.