This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Single Farm Payment Scheme
31/01/2005
New arrangements come into effect today which will provide support for farmers disadvantaged by changes in agricultural support.
Producers will now be able to apply to categories covering investments, leased land, purchase of leased land, re-conversion of production and new entrants.
The arrangements allow them to apply for support under the new system introduced by reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The closing date for these categories will be March 14. Applications for two further categories (dairy farmers and hardship and transfer of leased land) will remain open until May 16.
Farmers in certain circumstances declaring less land in 2005 than they held in the reference period will be able to apply for the consolidation of their Single Farm Payment (SFP) entitlements - part of the National Reserve arrangements - using their 2005 IACS form which SEERAD will issue in March 2005.
SEERAD is issuing an information leaflet and an application form to all farmers who are already receiving information on the SFP. The documentation will also be available to download from the SEERAD website or from local area offices.
The SFPS is part of the CAP Reform arrangements that were announced in February 2004. The scheme features:
- Decoupling support from production i.e. subsidy farmers receive will no longer be linked to the level of production
- Payments will be based on subsidy receipts during the reference period 2000-2002. This is referred to as the historic approach and is the standard system envisaged in the European legislation
There are no automatic issue of National Reserve entitlements - producers will have to submit an application and meet strict criteria. It is designed to assist farmers and crofters who would be otherwise disadvantaged over the change from traditional subsidy scheme to the new decoupled arrangements.
The Reserve will be established from a percentage reduction in payments to farmers receiving their entitlements under the SFP. The exact percentage will not be known until nearer the final closing date because it will be set to meet the level of successful applications.