Welsh CAP Update

Following the judicial review to abandon the Moorland region it seems that the Welsh Government has fallen even further behind and is now still discussing how the move from a historic to a regional payment system will work as well as what regions (if any) there will be. The only part that is clear is that there will be no Moorland region. A recent meeting  (http://wales.gov.uk/docs/drah/publications/150206-cap-modelling-working-group-note-of-meeting-300215.pdf)  discussed options of deciding on regions. Possible options include an LFA and Lowland split, SDA and other land split or SDA, DA and Lowland split. The three-region split is deemed similar to Wales’ Moorland options and is not discussed further. It seems more likely that Wales will have two regions however, much discussion also centres around a flat rate system. If a flat rate system was used the payment rates would be around €176 per hectare.

Tunnelling / convergence options are also open for discussion with three options to consider, immediate movement to the target payment rates, a 5 years transition or a transition over a longer period. The modelling discussions centre around a longer transition period. http://wales.gov.uk/docs/drah/publications/150206-paper-6-analysis-of-tunnelling-options-300215.pdf

The paper also suggests that a further consultation paper will be published by the Welsh Government prior to any decisions being made. The likelihood is that farmers will be filling out their SAF this year without knowing what their BPS entitlements are actually worth. Due to the length of time in finalising these choices, the BPS payments in Wales, for 2015 at least, are likely to be conducted in 2 payments; half in December and half later on in the year (before the June cut-off date for delayed payments).