The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
(DAERA) Minister updated MLAs today on his
plans for DAERA's Sustainable Agriculture Programme (SAP) of farm
support.
The new Sustainable Agriculture Programme, formerly known as the
Farm Support and Development Programme, has been re-named to
clearly reflect its importance in supporting change within
agriculture and ensuring a sustainable future for both farm
businesses and the environment.
In a written ministerial statement, the Minister provided details
of the schemes included and outlined a supporting programme of
communications to ensure farm businesses and those who provide
support services, are fully informed of the timelines of schemes
going live and the steps they need to take in preparation.
Speaking of the update, Minister Muir said: “The
Sustainable Agriculture Programme has been
co-designed with key agriculture and environmental stakeholders,
which I believe has brought robustness to scheme
development. It will provide options for all
farm businesses in Northern Ireland to secure and improve their
viability and environmental sustainability.
“I have agreed the timeline for the roll out of the next
phase of schemes over the next two years. This will be available
on the Department's website in the coming days and I would
encourage farmers to take a look at when schemes will
commence.”
The schemes due to be rolled out this year are:
- Farm Sustainability Transition Payment
- Beef Carbon Reduction Scheme Year 2
- Suckler Cow Scheme Year 1
- Farming with Nature Transition Scheme
- Sustainable Farming Investment Scheme
- Farming for the Generations
- Horticulture Scheme
- Farming for Sustainability – Knowledge Transfer
- Supporting Agri-Professionals Programme
- Farming for Carbon Programme
- Soil Nutrient Health Scheme Zone 4
The Minister went out to outline the steps being taken to ensure
every farm business is aware of the programme:“Having
taken onboard feedback from stakeholders and to ensure that
communications extend to the entirety of our target audience, I
have also agreed that the first edition of a Sustainable
Agriculture Programme Newsletter will issue in hard copy to farm
businesses in Northern Ireland. This will serve as a helpful
information resource for farm businesses and will be issued in
the coming months.
“I am also pleased to announce that a series of Awareness
Events will take place across Northern Ireland in February and
March this year. These events aim to raise awareness and
encourage farmers/growers to take all necessary actions regarding
the schemes that have already launched or are scheduled to
commence.”
The Minister concluded: “The Sustainable Agriculture
Programme is fundamental to helping DAERA support our farm
businesses and will enable us to collectively achieve our
environmental and climate change goals, providing the right
support and policies to help us move forward on a journey of
change ensuring both economic and environmental
sustainability.”
The written statement can be found at: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/update-daeras-new-programme-farm-support-29-january-2025
Notes to editors:
- DAERA's Sustainable Agriculture Programme (SAP) (formerly the
Farm Support and Development Programme) is being co-designed with
the Northern Ireland agricultural industry and other key food and
environmental stakeholders.
- The overall aim is to transition to a more sustainable
farming sector by seeking to implement policies and strategies
that benefit Northern Ireland's climate and environment, while
supporting its economically and socially significant agriculture
sector.
- The Programme is currently funded from the HMT earmarked
budget for agriculture, agri-environment and wider rural economy.
Funding is confirmed until 31 March 2025.
- The decision has been made for funding for farming and
fishing to no longer be ring-fenced and has been baselined within
the Resource DEL allocation to be provided to the Executive from
2025-26. Decisions on the levels of funding to be provided for
agriculture and fisheries are now fully devolved and has been
taken as part of the Executive's Budget 2025-26 exercise.
