9th November, 2012

ICSA CAP chairman Billy Gray said, “the fact that the European Parliament response to the CAP proposals is not going to be concluded until early 2013 means that 2014 is now almost certainly not a reference year for the new system.  It also means that the new system is unlikely to commence until 2015.

Farmers need to be aware of this because many farmers are gambling on 2014 in terms of renting land and this may now turn out to be futile.  While farmers with higher payments will probably hope that the old system will now apply in 2014, the problem is that we need some certainty for the longer term.  The longer it takes to get a deal, the more the risk that we don’t get the result we need.”