Scrap ‘base year’ factor in support for upland farming, urges union

A SIMPLIFIED system of support for hill and upland farmers based on grazing management and stocking rate is being called for by NFU Scotland.

The current Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme (LFASS) delivers more than £60 million a year to Scottish farmers but is based on cattle and sheep numbers during the 2009 base year.

This means that farmers such as new entrants becoming eligible support after 2009 are frozen out. The union has accepted that there is little or no scope in the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) or LFASS to accommodate those who have been excluded.

The emphasis is now on securing a more inclusive support measure in negotiations on reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which are due to kick in after 2013 but are looking increasingly likely to be delayed by a year.

“We believe that the future of the LFA support measure for Scotland must be simplified and must strip out the existing historic component,” said union policy director Jonnie Hall.

“What is required is a support measure based on the additional costs of active grazing management in areas of natural constraint.”

Simplicity could be achieved, Hall contends, by moving eligibility from a base year to an appropriate stocking range that fits with land type. This would provide the flexibility needed to respond to changing systems and the creation of new businesses.

It would also add a more obvious grazing management dimension to the support measure.

Hall said: “It is vital, as we look towards a new CAP package to deliver for the whole of Scotland and explore fully the options to underpin continuous farming activity.”

The union acknowledges that the Scottish Government has made improvements to LFASS in recent years, resulting in support being better targeted towards active grazing management.

“These lifeline payments now provide a more secure platform for LFA farming and crofting and have brought more producers under the LFA support umbrella,” Hall said. “Unfortunately, setting a base year for the scheme has the downside of creating a solid barrier for new claimants after 2009.

“These businesses, often new to the industry or in a development phase, are operating in a challenging economic environment and feel disadvantaged.”