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Local farmers are being asked to make sure their voices are heard after public representatives here have claimed that proposals by Agricultural Minister Edwin Poots could devastate small farms and rural planning. A Consultation is out for public input and it closes on 15 February.
Newry, Mourne and Down Councillor Oonagh Magennis, has said that small farmers must have their voices heard. The Slieve Gullion Councillor said “Farmers have been waiting anxiously to find out what policies the Minister plans to put in place in the wake of Brexit and the loss of EU funding.
“One of Minister Poots’ proposals is to increase the minimum claim size from the current 3 hectares (7.4 acres) to 10 hectares (24.7 acres). If implemented, would exclude thousands of small farmers, putting many of them out of business.
“Such proposals are bad news for up to 5000 small farms which would not be eligible for the proposed area based Resilience Payment which is the successor to the Single Farm Payment.
“Not only would this be devastating for the businesses impacted and the local economy but in most cases the only option to secure planning permission in rural areas is access to an active farm business number.
“If implemented, this decision would have a severe impact on young families wanting to set up home in the country with the added impact of depopulation on schools, shops, sport clubs and other local services
‘’Sinn Féin want to ensure that the voices of farmers and rural communities are not only heard but that they are listened to and reflected in any new proposals coming from the Department of Agriculture. We are currently preparing a robust response to this consultation.
“I am also extremely disappointed that Minister Poots did not agree to a request from my party colleague, Declan McAleer, for an extension to the consultation period. I believe that 6-weeks is an insufficient time to give this policy full consideration, particularly given that it was launched days before Christmas when people were pre-occupied with the festive season.
“I would encourage all those farmers and rural communities that are likely to be impacted to make a submission to the Departments consultation and challenge these unfair and short-sighted proposals before the 15th of February deadline.”
Reject Proposal
South Down MP Chris Hazzard is also encouraging local small holdings farmers to respond to theConsultation on the DAERA Future Agricultural Policy.
In particular Mr Hazzard is warning farmers to reject a hidden proposal to remove financial support for small holdings.
Chris Hazzard MP said “Buried in among the various proposals in this consultation is a plan to increase the minimum claim size for resilience payments from 3 hectares to 10 hectares.
“I am astonished that this proposal has received so little attention from both the media and the industry. I do not exaggerate when I say, if this increase is allowed to go ahead it will rip the heart out of rural Ireland. Such an increase will remove one of the few safety nets that smallholdings farmers have and leave thousands vulnerable to bankruptcy."
Mr Hazzard believes that knock on consequences are just as bad as the direct effect.
“For example, the removal of this fund will have consequences for your farm business number, without which you cannot get planning permission to build in the countryside.
“Not content with driving farmers off the land, DAERA now seems intent on running future generations out of the countryside altogether.' he said.
“Is this the future that Minister Poots wants? To return us to the days of a small number of ‘Big House’ farmers owning all the land in an area?
“And this is to say nothing of the devastating effect this move will have on the mental health of farmers. For many smallholdings farmers, having a bit of land and a few cattle isn't about making money, it's as much a cultural and social enterprise as an economic one.
“Moving the cattle, drawing in silage, and purchasing meal gives isolated rural farmers a sense of purpose. It keeps the mind and the body active, it's something to talk about in the pubs, it's a chance to socialise at the mart.
“To take this away is to condemn them to isolation, depression and worse. I'm astonished that Minister Poots has concocted such a bare-faced plan to run the small farmers out of rural Ireland and appalled that DAERA is allowing him to do it."
To reply to consultation go to WWW.DAERA-NI.GOV.UK and scroll to the bottom of the page and click 'Respond Online' by 15 February 2022.
