Revised rates of hill farm allowance for 2006

Hill farmers will be paid revised rates of Hill Farm Allowance (HFA) by Defra for the year ending March 2006. The revised rates represent an increase on Defra figures previously published for 2006, and are higher than rates paid to hill farmers in 2005.

The budget for HFA 2006 is £27.2 million. The payment rates for 2006 (subject to Commission approval) are as follows (original published rates in brackets):-

Severely Disadvantaged Land Disadvantaged Land Moorland Common Land

Full rate

0 – 350 ha £30.82 per ha

(£24.82) £16.66 per ha

(£13.42) £11.66 per ha

(£9.39) £11.66 per ha

(£9.39)

Half rate

351 – 700 ha £15.41 per ha

(£12.41) £8.33 per ha

(£6.81) £5.83 per ha

(£4.70) £5.83 per ha

(£4.70)

HFA has provided support to hill farmers as part of the current England Rural Development Programme (2000-2006). 2006 is therefore the last year in which is planned to be paid. Decisions on how to use rural development funding to deliver public benefits in the next programme period (2007-2013) will be taken following consultation, and in the light of Margaret Beckett’s commitment that Defra would consider how to “reflect the needs of upland communities, and the public interest in good management of some of our best-loved landscapes”.