The Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill has taken some of the first steps to clarify DARD’s position on the CAP reforms by announcing the future of entitlements and the definition of an active farmer.

The Minister said: “I have decided that all existing entitlements will be cancelled at the end of 2014 and there will be a re-allocation based on the area of land declared in 2015. In conjunction with this, I will not be opting to restrict the number of entitlements that can be established in 2015 to the number of eligible hectares in 2013. Furthermore, the basis for calculating the initial value of new entitlements allocated in 2015 will be derived from the value of SFP entitlements held in 2014 rather than entitlements activated in 2014.” The Minister continued: “I can also confirm that the EU Commission adopted a CAP Reform Delegated Act on Tuesday, March 11 2014 and the provision which has particular relevance to active farmers and conacre land remains unchanged from the draft. Therefore, the Delegated Act specifies that payment entitlements should be allocated to the person enjoying decision-making power, benefits and financial risks in relation to the agricultural activity on the land for which such allocation is requested. This means that it will be in only exceptional circumstances that someone who is renting land out in conacre will be able to establish entitlements in 2015. The Delegated Act will be confirmed in two months time provided there is no objection from the European Parliament or the EU Council.” The Minister concluded: “I believe that these decisions and the adoption of the Delegated Act by the EU Commission will remove some of the uncertainty with regards to entitlements trading this year.” The Q&A on how changes under CAP Reform will impact on land let in conacre, has been updated taking these decisions onboard. This Q&A can we found at http://www.dardni.gov.uk The Ulster Farmers’ Union welcoming the announcement said the decisions taken by the Minister to re-base entitlements in 2015 and also to not restrict them to the number of eligible hectares in 2013 provides more flexibility to farmers. The UFU President, Harry Sinclair said, “Equally, the use of the 2014 value of entitlements held rather than claimed will help farmers to secure their entire existing SFP given the fact that in most cases present eligible land areas will have reduced since 2005. These are issues which we had fully supported and these decisions will help to provide some clarity for farmers trying to plan their businesses under the reformed CAP. Also, the fact that progress is being made in relation to the finalised active farmer definition is positive, with the EU Commission adopting the CAP reform Delegated Acts earlier this week. I would encourage farmers and landowners to continue their conversations in relation to conacre and entitlement agreements in an effort to ensure the interests of both parties are looked after, and the clarity now available will be helpful in these discussions.”