Defra’s dual use decision attacked by farm leaders
I once interviewed George Dunn, mentioned below and he was on a list of stakeholders without much detail. His reply in response to my question – “Could we start by discussing your role in the organization for which you work” was “I think they call me the Chief Executive….” It was a great understated and humourous response which dealt very gently with my lack of homework. Suitably chastened we pushed on and I found him to be a man of insight and perception. I am interested in terms of my previous experience of George to think very carefully about his take on this issue. This story tells us:
A long-awaited decision by Defra on whether to allow “dual use” of land under different CAP schemes has been attacked by farm leaders – although they disagree on the right way forward.
The most common example of dual use is where a tenant claims under the Basic Payment Scheme and a landlord claims under an agri-environment scheme.
The NFU had been lobbying for this practice to continue under the new Countryside Stewardship Scheme. However, the TFA had been arguing for an end to dual use, on the grounds that payments should only go to the people who are actively farming the land.
Farm minister George Eustice revealed on Monday (21 September) that dual use will be allowed for higher-tier applications starting on 1 January 2016, but not for mid-tier applications until 2017.
This approach would allow environmental work to be delivered cost-effectively and over a larger area, without disrupting BPS payments, he said.
But in response, TFA chief executive George Dunn accused Defra of making a decision which “defies logic and will perpetuate injustice in the landlord tenant system”.