New Forest cattle producers face BPS upheaval

Graziers in the New Forest national park could see support for basic payments cut as Defra looks to move away from the existing headage-based payment system.

The move would affect about 200 cattle producers who receive payments based on the number of animals they turn out to graze.

Each animal must bear an identification mark approved by regulatory body the Verderers of the New Forest, which takes an administrative “marking fee”.

Payments are therefore allotted on the number of marking fees paid by the grazier in the previous year.

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However, Defra is concerned the payment system encourages commoners to keep higher numbers of animals and this extra grazing pressure is putting forest ecosystems at risk.

Options

To address the issue, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has launched a consultation, seeking views on ways to replace or amend the present allocation method.

The consultation sets out three potential options to replace the existing system that would limit further expansion of livestock numbers.

1. Freezing allocation numbers by basing them on a reference year

A reference year would be chosen and the grazier would receive a fixed payment regardless of numbers increasing or declining. The consultation document recognises the choice of reference year would be a key decision for graziers, who may have held more or less stock during that time.

2. Levancy and couchancy

This option would seek to quantify the rights of pasture held by New Forest commoners by a loose reference back to old principles of common law.

In essence, this is a measure of the capacity of the land to maintain stock. Again, the consultation document recognises potential difficulties, mainly in accurately calculating the amount of stock an area of land could support.

3. Broadening the allocation calculation to include decoupled agricultural activity

Under this option, payments would be based on qualifying activities other than keeping livestock. Candidate activities that could be considered for inclusion might include:

• Cutting gorse
• Spraying bracken
• Clearing scrub.

Take part

The consultation period closes on 3 February 2021. The RPA is writing directly to all commoners who claim basic payments in the New Forest and the consultation is also being published on the Gov.uk website.