Short window left for Welsh and NI entitlement trades

Farmers in Northern Ireland (NI) and Wales have just over a month to transfer any entitlements ahead of the 15 May deadline.

The entitlements market in NI is expected to be particularly pressured as trading has been squeezed into only a few weeks.

The Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) in NI finally opened its entitlement transfer service on 3 April, after updating its systems so farmers can see the value of any entitlements they hold.

See also: How to reduce capital gains bills after loss of BPS entitlements

Omagh-based Roy McCracken says delays in announcing the unit values meant that any advantage gained by extending the trading window to 15 May has now been lost, and some farmers could get caught out if slow to act.

“We are going to be under serious pressure this year. There will be a rush of entitlements into the market and not enough time to transfer them – it takes a considerable amount of time to get contracts out and back,” says Roy.

This year the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payment has been phased out and replaced with the Farm Sustainability Transition Payment, although the same scheme rules as the BPS apply.

However, a 6.5% cut has been applied to all unit values.

Roy says there tends to be more leases than sales of entitlements in NI, with farmers conscious that entitlements can have “a short shelf-life, depending on the whim of a minister”.

There is a cohort of farmers who no longer meet the active farmer test because they did not have livestock or the required amount of cropping in 2021 or 2022. Although they will need to sell their entitlements either this year or next, Roy expects most will wait until 2026.

Demand is anticipated to be similar to last year.

“We have plenty of people looking for entitlements, and they are quite happy to take a 50-50 split on the value if the entitlements are of a reasonable value,” says Roy.

“Where the entitlements are low value, then it depends on market supply at that point. It can be different and, particularly towards the end of the trading window, people will just say they want to get them offloaded.”

Wales

Sion Wyn Jones, partner with Jones Peckover in North Wales, has been instructed to sell more Welsh BPS entitlements this year than last.

However, demand has been quite steady since trading started in January, with the average price to date coming out at roughly £50 an entitlement.

“This figure is comparable to last year’s average for the entire trading window, but disappointing for us and our vendors to date,” he says.

“On the other hand, it leaves an excellent return this year alone to those needing to buy entitlements.”

2025 is expected to be the last year of full BPS payments as the transition to the Sustainable Farming Scheme will start in 2026.

No exact figure for the value of 2025 BPS income has been published, but late last year the Welsh Government indicated it would make payments in 2025 at the same level as in 2024 – just over £233/ha for the first 54ha claimed, and just over £122/ha for the area claimed above 54ha.

Sion expects more buyers to come forward before the transfer deadline of 15 May but the average price to remain near the £50 an entitlement level.

David Marrow of Townsend Chartered Surveyors agrees demand for Welsh entitlements had been quite slow, but it is now starting to pick up and will get busier closer to the transfer deadline.

He is currently selling entitlements for between £50-£60 each, although most have been at the lower end of the scale. This compares with a price of roughly £60 each last year.

Scotland

Scotland’s trading period for entitlements closed on 2 April.

Jack Frater of Edwin Thompson says it has been the busiest year for some time in terms of the number of units transferred, but values did drop slightly.

“Last year we probably averaged about £148-£150 a unit for Region 1 and this year we are down to about £135 a unit,” he says.

“Meanwhile, Region 2 was about the £30 a unit mark last year compared to about £26-£28 a unit this year.  We haven’t dealt with any Region 3 entitlements.”

Jack suggests availability of Region 1 entitlements may have been higher than last year because forestry planting has started on some better Region 1 land, freeing up entitlements to the market.

Large farming businesses have been the biggest buyers.

“They are still cheap in that you are paying £135 a unit but are going to get £220 a unit back in terms of the Basic Payment Scheme payment – so you are making money in the first year.

“People are also trying to maximise their claims in case 2025 proves to be a reference year for future schemes.”