The next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which comes into effect on 1 January, 2023, will see changes to direct payment schemes. All entitlement values will change next year, and payment rates associated with all schemes will also be amended due to the direct payment ceiling’s division mechanism.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed five schemes.
2023 direct payments:
– BISS/Basic Income Support for Sustainability will replace the BPS
– Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (a new scheme often called CRISS/front loading)
– Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers, which is the new Young Farmer Scheme)
– Eco-schemes (a new scheme to Ireland and the UK replacing greening)
– Coupled Income Support (Protein Aid)
– Payment entitlements
At a recent public information gathering on the Common Agricultural Policy Draft Strategic Plan 2023 – 2027, new payment entitlements were confirmed.
These include:
– No new allocation in the draft regulations – no reference years
– Number of entitlements stays the same, but each value is adjusted to match the funding ceiling. The new average will be around €155-160
– All entitlement values will fall into a range from approximately €130-€285 by 2026
– Transfers are still possible in what the DAFM described as “the usual way”. However, it confirmed that there are some changes planned around clawback
– Convergence will continue throughout the new CAP, reaching a minimum of 85% by 2026 in equal steps
– Farmers recently received a statement of entitlements for 2022, which sets of the value of entitlements for this year. Furthermore, the DAFM confirmed that farmers will receive another statement around February 2023 for the entirety of the new CAP