'Slipper farmers' will be told to use land – or lose payments

RETIRED farmers who still receive taxpayers' money despite no longer being in productive agriculture will next year have to change their ways or lose the cash.

That was the warning given yesterday by the architect of agricultural policy reform, Brian Pack, who said the issue of so-called "slipper farmers" had required action.

A small change to Scottish Government legislation will be necessary to set minimum stocking rates on land and this device will be used to ensure that there is at least a small level of production on grassland as from next year.

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Pack has suggested that there should be a minimum of 0.06 livestock units per hectare in the less favoured areas (LFAs) of the country.

This equates to one ewe per three hectares, a level which he thought would provide a reasonable level of farming in all but the very poorest land. The suggested minimum level in non-LFA areas is one livestock unit per hectare, which equates to one cow on that area of land.

For those that do not comply and continue to leave the land bare, the proposed change to the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions will allow 60 days for the land to be stocked.

If it is not, financial penalties will be taken from the Single Farm Payment. The penalties will continue to escalate with continued non-compliance.

Questioned by representatives of the red meat processing sector as to how many additional cattle and sheep this might mean in Scotland, Pack initially stated "none", although he later qualified this by saying it could provide a few extra sheep.

George Milne, development officer with the National Sheep Association, welcomed the move, saying he believed it would put some more sheep onto hill land.

It was also welcomed by NFU Scotland as a step towards encouraging active farming in some of areas of the country.

The union was also enthusiastic about the proposals put forward by Pack aimed at getting more new entrants into the industry. A number of proposals included resetting the Rural Priorities Support Programme so that it favoured newcomers to farming.

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Pack also wanted the issue of new entrants to farming to be top of the actual CAP reform programme when it made its way through Europe.

While these were the main findings from his report Short-Term Measures for Future Support, with the final version still to come in October, Pack also dismissed any possibility of using an EU regulation to give specific support to any sector.

Article 68 was thought to give Scotland and other member states the option of financially supporting the livestock industry. However for several reasons, he said there was "no scope to use this regulation".

Scotland currently has a scheme under Article 69 which gives beef farmers extra money for every calf produced.

But this programme runs out next year and Pack said if it was to continue, there would need to be work carried out to make it more targeted in the future.

Apart from the move on ensuring minimum stocking levels, which will be introduced next year, much of the rest of the EU CAP reform timetable is likely to slip back in time. This was largely because until the budget was set it was difficult, if not impossible, to set any set of policies, Pack said.

One proposal arising from the recommendations that is certain to be taken forward is an investment in a new computer system by the Scottish Government.

The present system is already creaking and the government wants a replacement in time to cope with the more complex CAP that is likely to emerge later in the decade.