The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture has published details of its submission that was recently provided as evidence to the Tynwald Environment and Infrastructure Policy Review Committee (EIPRC). This committee was formed following a resolution agreed by Tynwald Court in May 2013 to hold an enquiry into the Countryside Care Scheme and other agricultural policy matters.
The Countryside Care Scheme, approved by Tynwald in April 2008 forms one of the main components of Manx Agricultural Policy. The Scheme has followed changes to European Agricultural policy by ‘decoupling’ agricultural support. Farmers no longer receive a subsidy linked to production and instead are paid for maintaining their land in good agricultural and environmental condition. This recognises the importance of farming in maintaining the unique and beautiful Manx landscape, whilst allowing farmers the freedom to diversify and produce based on market demands rather than be stifled by following the rigid requirements of previous subsidy schemes.
DEFA Minister, Phil Gawne, MHK said: “The Countryside Care Scheme has been in place for 5 years now and I am pleased that it is still broadly achieving its original objectives. The majority of farmers are supportive of the Scheme, but I acknowledge that there are still some voices of discontent that want to go back to the old way of doing things. It would be unrealistic to think that the Department could ever have developed a Scheme that would have been to the satisfaction of all, but I welcome this review as an opportunity to look at ways to ensure that the Scheme is as effective as possible in helping Manx farming become more resilient and market focussed.
I would stress that I do not envisage this review resulting in any major changes to the overall workings of the Scheme. I view this as a crucially important message to the industry, as we have followed a well signposted direction of travel for the last 5 years and the majority of farmers have adapted their businesses to follow this direction of travel. To reintroduce uncertainty to an industry that relies on long-term planning for its success would be a backwards step”.
The Departments responses to the Committee have been compiled into a publicly available document and can be viewed on the Departments webpage at http://www.gov.im/categories/business-and-industries/agriculture/countryside-care-scheme/EIPRC-Responses.
Hansard transcripts of the Committee meetings are also available and can be found at http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/committee/eiprc/Pages/default.aspx
