The Ulster Farmers’ Union has met senior DARD/CAFRE officials to discuss their plan to provide advice and assistance to farmers who chose not to be part of Business Discussion Groups (BDGs).
Currently CAFRE advisors are working with around 1700 farmers developing business plans and around 1200 of these are benchmarking.
The development of the BDGs has seen 3225 eligible applicants enter that scheme.
This represents an up to 50 per cent increase in the number of farmers CAFRE advisors will be working with on business plans and benchmarking.
“Under European legislation DARD must provide an advisory service for all Basic Payment Scheme applicants. Farmers who are not part of a BDG are still entitled to a farm advisory service,” said UFU deputy president Barclay Bell.
“CAFRE/DARD officials have however indicated that because of resource constraints one-to-one advice at the kitchen table for farmers outside of BDG is less likely.”
Farmers who did not apply to be a part of a BDG will have the option of taking part in the Farm Family Key Skills (FFKS) programme.
Funded through the rural development programme this will offer farm families short courses within DARD priority areas.
These include business planning, animal health, health and safety and ICT.
DARD/CAFRE officials have also committed to holding broader training events linked to current issues and demand from the industry.
Barclay Bell added that even though advisors will not be readily available to all farmers on a one-to-one basis there will still be advice available through FFKS and training events.
“In these challenging times, it is vital that the help farmers need is available to ensure they have the skills they need to make the best decisions about their businesses,” he said.
He added that the UFU will be actively involved in ensuring farmers outside the BDGs are not disadvantaged.
