Anguish for hill farmers hit by payment delays

The National Farmers’ Union reports that some Yorkshire hill farmers are having to buy items including animal feed on credit as their cash reserves run out.

More than 68,500 farmers have received payments under the EU’s Basic Payment Scheme – 78.7 per cent of eligible farmers in England – since the payment window opened on December 1, but 12 weeks on the Rural Payments Agency has told common land farmers that they face an extended wait for their share of the £1.43bn fund.

Laurie Norris, the NFU’s regional lead on hill and upland issues, said this leaves farmers in a very difficult situation.

“We have heard some desperate stories at these meetings, with some people having no choice but to put feed bills on credit cards to keep their animals alive.

“It is now clear that a great many ‘commoners’ will not get their farm support (BPS) payments until after the end of March. This is going to stretch finances well beyond breaking point and with lambing time just around the corner we are extremely concerned about how many of these marginal farm businesses will survive.”

She said the RPA needs to be absolutely clear with those affected exactly when they should expect the payment.

“It is a double whammy that environmental payments for work already done have also been delayed – this means that in some cases commoners have received no significant payment for 12 months,” she said. “And with returns from the sheep market also depressed this year, the situation could hardly be worse.”

The union’s national hill and upland spokesman, Robin Milton, said he will continue to ask the RPA to look at part payments.

Ms Norris added: “Anyone finding themselves in very serious financial difficulties should seek help.

“There are a number of farming charities, including RABI, Farming Community Network and the Addington Fund, standing by to support individual farmers and the NFU can take hardship cases to the RPA for consideration.”

In the last update from RPA chief executive Mark Grimshaw, he said: “We understand the importance of these payments for farmers and every effort is being made to pay farmers as quickly as possible.

“We are listening to farmers and understand that they want more communication.

“We know that farmers need as much information as possible to manage their business. That’s why we have been making regular announcements on the progress with BPS 2015 payments and will continue to do so.”

UNTANGLING COMMON LAND

Nearly four million acres of designated ‘common land’ across the region is farmed in the uplands – some eight per cent of the total farmed area.

‘Commoners’ have recognised rights to farm on designated common land which can be large or small and have many or just one commoner and rights can vary.

Given the variation between different commons and the number of people exercising common rights, the job of applying for farm support schemes can be complex. This often leads to implementation delays for commoners.