Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Scheme
The Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Scheme (LFACA) is funded under Axis 2 of the Rural Development Programme and delivered by DARD.
It aims to support those who farm in naturally less favoured areas in Northern Ireland.
Support under this scheme will contribute to:
- Ensuring continued agricultural land use and thereby contributing to the maintenance of a viable rural society;
- Maintaining the countryside; and
- Maintaining and promoting sustainable farming systems which, in particular, take account of environmental protection requirements.
Who can apply?
The Scheme is open to farmers in Less Favoured Areas (LFA) who use their land to maintain breeding herds of beef cattle, sheep, deer and goats.
To claim, the applicant must have a Business Identification Number (Business ID) and;
- Have at least 3 hectares of eligible forage land in the Severely Disadvantaged Area (SDA) and/or Disadvantaged Area(DA);
- Keep enough eligible stock to meet the minimum 0.2 Livestock Units per hectare stocking density requirement;
- Have the land available and accessible and meet the stocking density requirement throughout the period of 1 April to 31 October;
- Adhere to the Cross-Compliance requirements; and
- Undertake to farm in the LFA for five years from the first payment of a compensatory allowance.
What funding is available?
The scheme has two parts:
- An area-based payment for eligible hectares of SDA and DA land; and
- A “cattle bonus” which increases the area based payment for those farmers who have 25% or more of their eligible livestock units as suckler cows or heifers.
Payments are normally made annually.
How do I apply?
The opening and closing dates for schemes/programmes supported by the Rural Development Programme are advertised and promoted widely. Please check the
When Can I Apply? section of the website for details of what schemes are open for applications. Depending on the scheme, application forms may be available for download.
An application must be made on the IACS/Single Application Form (SAF1) and land declared on the Field Data Sheets (SAF 2) under land use codes FR1 grass for grazing, hay or silage, rough grazing, grazed heather, lucerne, sainfoin, clovers, forage vetches or OT3 grazed orchards or grazed woodlands.
What happens next?
LFACA claims made on the Single Application Form within the application period and signed by the claimant will usually be acknowledged within 10 to15 working days of receipt. Unsigned forms are invalid and will be returned.
Applications will then be subject to validation checks, during which any obvious completion errors will be identified. We will write to claimants to try and resolve these.
After these initial validation checks, claims go through eligibility checks which cover:
- Validation on the areas claimed; and
- Checks on the number of eligible livestock maintained throughout the qualifying periods.
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim LFACA on conacre land?
Many farmers claim LFACA on conacre land. With the introduction of the Single Farm Payment (SFP) Scheme, some landowners established SFP entitlements on the LFA land that they let in conacre. Landowners could establish and claim SFP entitlements on land they owned and continue to let to farmers provided they retained sufficient management control of the land to enable them to maintain it in GAEC. However, the farmer to whom the land is let may use this conacre land to support claims for LFACA payment. In circumstances where the landowner is claiming SFP and the tenant is claiming LFACA for the same land, each must ensure that they meet the full requirements of the respective schemes to which they are applying. Failure to meet these requirements may result in penalties being applied. In conacre and leasing agreements, great care should be taken to avoid both parties claiming under the same scheme for the same land.
Will there be any on-farm inspections?
We must carry out on-farm inspections on at least 5% of applicants to see if the requirements of the scheme are complied with. In addition, a further 1% minimum of applicants will also be inspected for cross compliance purposes.
Will any penalties be applied?
LFACA payments will be based on eligible forage area after account has been taken of any penalties that reduce your land, because of, for example, overdeclaration. You may also be penalised if, for example, we get your application late. You may be penalised if you do not adhere to the cross compliance requirements. Any penalties will be proportionate to the severity, extent, permanence and repetition of the non-compliance.
