Business

Beef farmers facing subsidy losses under Cap

BEEF farmers "face big losses to their Single Farm Payment" as a result of the new Common Agriculture Policy (Cap) according to the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU). The message followed a presentation from the agriculture department at last week's beef conference.

Speaking afterwards, union president Ian Marshall said: "Overall, there were some positive and encouraging messages coming out of the beef conference last week in relation to genomics and how efficiencies can be made at a farm level but the figures displayed by Dard's head of policy and economics Norman Fulton were a bleak reminder that the beef sector will experience some tough choices and significant difficulties through the Cap transition period.2 He said the past 18 months had been "incredibly difficult for beef farmers".

"The industry has taken hit after hit with the fodder crisis in 2013 and the collapse of the beef market in early 2014 being the biggest blows. From the outset of the Cap reform process the UFU consistently highlighted that efficient, productive beef farmers across all areas of NI were likely to be the most severely affected by the move to a flatter rate payment and called for a financial support mechanism to be put in place to help beef farmers generally, and suckler producers in particular, adapt their businesses during the transition period and to drive improved efficiency.