Vol. 380 No. 7
asked the Minister for Energy if off-farm income will render a farmer ineligible for compensatory allowances or headage payments in respect of forestry in the same manner as applies to cattle headage; and the maximum, if any, which any farmer can obtain in any one year from the headage payments introduced in respect of forestry.
84.
asked the Minister for Energy whether the calculation of compensatory allowances or headage payments in respect of forestry, cattle headage or sheep headage being received by a farmer will be taken into account in calculating the maximum possible to draw from any one farm; if the forestry headage is to be taken in conjunction with the stock headage; and whether the cattle headage maximum or the sheep headage maximum will apply.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 84 together.
Livestock headage payment schemes have been operated by the Department of Agriculture and Food for a number of years. The forestry scheme recently approved by the EC provides for the payment of forestry compensatory allowances for a period of 15 years in substitution for livestock headage previously paid. Forestry compensatory allowances are, therefore, only available to farmers who already qualify under the Department of Agriculture and Food livestock headage schemes. Accordingly, the question of off-farm income is a matter for the Department of Agriculture and Food.
The maximum payment possible under the 1987 headage schemes is £3,762 (a combination of the cattle and sheep headage limits) and this is currently under review. However, compensatory allowances for forestry must substitute for livestock headage payments received in the year preceding afforestation. Cattle and sheep headage payments will, therefore, be taken into account in calculating the maximum forestry allowances payable.
