Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill MLA today announced her plans to fund a further year of the Less Favoured Areas Compensatory Allowance (LFACA) Scheme in 2015.
The Minister said: “I am aware that the LFACA scheme is an important component of current support payments to farm businesses. Farmers in our most constrained areas form a key part of our rural communities, as well as being custodians of our unique landscape, yet they face many challenges.
“I believe it is very important to provide continuity to farmers wherever possible. Using the Transitional Regulation to provide a further year of this long standing scheme will provide some stability for farmers as we make the transition to the new support arrangements under CAP reform.”
The Minister added: “Looking forward, I am considering future support arrangements for our constrained areas as part of the Direct Payments Consultation. This is an important issue to local farmers and I will carefully consider all the responses received before reaching my decision.”
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