Royal Welsh: SFP debate kicks off

The report, 'An Analysis of the Welsh Single Payment Regime and the Impact of Possible Flat-Rate Single Payment Models' provides detailed analyses of the way in which Pillar I Single Payments are distributed among Welsh farms and land types and examines the possible impact of four possible single payment models.

It looks at a fixed flat rate payment per hectare, irrespective of land category; retaining the balance between all monies paid within and outside the LFA; retaining the balance between all monies paid within and outside the SDA, and retaining the balance between all monies paid on SDA, DA, non-LFA, and common land.

“In the run up to last year’s CAP health check agreement, we won a major victory for the Welsh farming industry by securing the retention of historical Single Payments for a number of years,” said FUW president, Gareth Vaughan, launching the report.

“However, the movement to flat-rate payments is inevitable and we need to start looking at all the options in order to find the best solution for the Welsh industry.”

“The study confirms that higher fertility land attracts larger payments, with average payments per hectare for non-LFA, DA, SDA, and common land currently £224, £204, £145, and £117 respectively.

“This suggests that a single flat-rate payment for the whole of Wales would result in a fall in non-LFA payments of £25 million, which would have a catastrophic impact for lowland farmers.”

The report suggests that disruption for the industry as a whole is minimised by ring-fencing money currently claimed for each land category, and proposes a method of quantifying the disruption caused within each payment band.

“These are, however, initial results, and further analysis is needed before any final conclusions can be drawn,” said Mr Vaughan.

“In particular, we need to assess the impact of different models on particular sectors and regions.”