Press Release - Flexible, four legged, support system offered by Pack Inquiry

Flexible, four legged, support system offered by Pack Inquiry worth taking look at.

The National Beef Association is encouraged by the Interim Report of the Brian Pack Inquiry, which picks out a selection of possible solutions to Scotland’s CAP problems for the industry to examine.

It thinks the structural difficulties raised by the inevitable, post-2013, transition to area based support, and greater EU interest in food security and reducing the impact of climate change, could be met if farmers respond carefully to the challenge the Inquiry has put in front of them.

“The Inquiry team is asking many questions including whether it is possible to construct a four legged system of support for Scotland, which will precisely target CAP funding at the farms which need it most, and thereby maintain an active agricultural industry while at the same time conserving all aspects of environmental protection that the tax payer will also demand,” said NBA Scotland vice-chairman, Hamish McBean.

“It has explained in detail that the status-quo, which contains many flaws, cannot be maintained and so, after also outlining restraints like a reduced CAP budget, has asked farmers to help it select the solution that delivers most benefit to most land based business in Scotland and which has most overall backing.”

The initial reaction of the NBA is that a four legged approach, which requires the support envelope for a farm to be made of elements that could come through a combination of direct payments, Rural Development Programme, LFA support and top up funds including the use of Article 68, is definitely worth taking a look at.

“If this package is properly constructed, and referenced against the individual problems of farms in specific regions, the four legged arrangement could be sufficiently flexible for its elements to be juggled in a way in which different farms receive their support from different sources but the total payment still hits a satisfactory level for all,” said Mr McBean.

“This is one way the potentially disastrous plunge from historic payment to flat rate could be adequately cushioned and LFA and SDA farmers would be among those still having enough protection from costs.”

“The Pack Inquiry’s thinking is very much in line with that of the NBA. We are pleased that it does not want to see an interim scale-back in SFP before 2013.

We would also urge it to press for future payment structures to require only modest administration costs while at the same time help to find a way to reduce red tape levels and re-instate a more sensible penalty system for petty non-compliance mistakes.”

For more information contact:

Hamish McBean, Vice Chairman, NBA Scotland. Tel: 01309 651206.