The Department of Agriculture is carrying out further modelling work on farmer payments in order to take account of the latest information from the agreement on CAP reform.

The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) had called on the Department to take the front-loading of payments into account in its previous modelling exercises.

Front-loading, called the Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS), will see €120m of Ireland’s direct payment money ring-fenced and redistributed to small- and medium-sized farms.

The modelling work “will be expanded where necessary as a result of any further clarifications in relation to the technical rules,” a Department spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal.

It will then be shared with stakeholders through the various stakeholder committees, bilateral meetings and public consultation process.

Consultation

The Department of Agriculture intends to launch a two-week public consultation on the draft schemes and measures to be included in Ireland’s CAP strategic plan.

“This will involve town hall meetings on digital platforms. Dates will be confirmed when the public consultation is launched.

“The Department and the Minister will also continue discussions with key stakeholders, including through the CAP consultative committee,” the spokesperson said.

In May, the Irish Farmers Journal revealed the range of schemes the Department of Agriculture was considering for farmers in the next CAP.

This includes the next flagship agri-environment scheme, which would be made up of one-size-fits-all measures and results-based measures.

You can read the full range of proposed schemes here.