Farmers in Northern Ireland have welcomed news that there will be £293 million in direct payments for the 2020 scheme year.
The payments, which have been in place since 2015, comprise of the Basic Payment Scheme, Greening Payment and Young Farmers’ Payments.
Newly-elected farming minister Edwin Poots confirmed the news, and that his department, DAERA, aims to make full payments from 16 October 2020.
He made the announcement during a visit to Ballymena Mart: “The 2020 scheme will operate in a similar fashion to that in 2019, apart from a small number of issues where change is necessary as a result of our exit from the EU,” Mr Poots said.
“Payments under the 2020 scheme year will be nationally funded and, consequently, there will be no deductions from payments under the EU financial discipline mechanism.
“The limit on advance payments, which was 70% of the total payment in 2019, has been removed and as a result, my department intends to make full payments from 16 October.”
The confirmation of the payments has been described by the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) as 'good news', giving farming businesses 'much-needed certainty'.
The union said that farmers in the region have had to 'endure a lack of clarity on payments for some time'.
“Direct payments are crucial for any farm business and helps to ensure the production of affordable high-quality food consumers demand continues,” UFU president, Ivor Ferguson said.
He added that Northern Ireland now has the ability to 'regionalise' agricultural policy now the UK has left the EU.
“Farming in NI is very different to farming in the south of England and regionalisation will ensure that the delivery of this funding best suits the differing needs and structure of our industry here,” Mr Ferguson explained.
“With the Brexit process progressing, it is vital that Northern Ireland’s competitiveness in the all-island economy is maintained.
“The level of support payments given to agriculture in the Republic of Ireland must be tracked in the future and matched.”
The 2019 scheme year exchange rate of €1 = £0.89092 will be used to calculate individual farmer’s payments for the 2020 scheme year.
The option for farmers to receive payments in euro will no longer be available given the UK's exit from the EU.
