The European Commission is considering allowing member states to increase the levels of advanced scheme payments made to farmers in 2022 as a measure to help address heightening market and food security, a document seen by the Irish Farmers Journal suggests.

Should the Commission adopt the measure, Irish farmers could receive more of their Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Pillar II scheme payments from mid-October onwards when compared with previous years, the document implies.

Last year, a 70% advance payment was made on the vast majority of BPS payments by the Department of Agriculture.

A rate of 50% had previously been the uppermost advance permitted under the CAP.

Other measures on the table

The Commission document viewed by the Irish Farmers Journal summarised other “measures under consideration” in Brussels to address the “market situation and food security considerations” that have arisen since the invasion.

One area that the document described the Commission as “reflecting on” was the reporting of food and feed stocks by member states.

Member states could see a requirement to “communicate monthly data of private stocks of essential commodities for food and feed” to the Commission.

Pigs and set aside

The document stated that market supports, such as the introduction of private storage aid for the pig meat sector, were also being assessed.

Allowing fallow land to be grazed or taken into protein crop production are other measures being discussed at EU level.

Germany has already announced its intention to allow farmers cultivate fallow and catch cropped ground for productive reasons, potentially freeing up more than 1.2m ha for production, should farmers wish to cultivate these greening areas.

Anti-dumping duties on fertilisers

Separately, an official from the Commission confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that anti-dumping duties were still being assessed in Brussels to determine “whether the legal conditions for suspension” had been met.

A communication is due for release “in the coming weeks” on the “resilience of our food system”, the official added.

The official could not confirm that the decision on fertiliser anti-dumping duties, which vary from €30 to €40 per tonne of fertiliser, would be included in this communication.