Farmers still wait for vital subsidy cheques

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has confirmed that 16 per cent of the 1.86bn Single Farm Payment fund it was tasked with distributing for 2009 has yet to be paid.

Correction work on bungled claims from previous years, along with ongoing problems with the redesignation of land, are said to have contributed to the delays.

Last week the Yorkshire Post reported how the National Farmers Union president Peter Kendall had written to farming Minister Jim Fitzpatrick to express concern at how long the payments process was taking . Many farmers fear the RPA's focus will soon shift to the payments for 2010, leaving payments due for last year further down the priority list.

A spokeswoman for the RPA said it was "working hard to finalise checks on the remaining claims and is aiming to pay farmers as quickly as possible".

She added: "Over 94,700 farmers have received a full SPS payment. This represents just over 88 per cent of the estimated total claimant population of 107,500."

The figures are above those required by the deadlines set for RPA and are slightly better than those achieved last year.

The news comes following a tumultuous year for the agency which has been strongly criticised for it's mishandling of Single Farm Payments, subsidies given to farmers to ensure incomes are not totally reliant on production and to reward environmentally friendly practices.

The National Audit Office recently blasted the agency in an official report which described it as "a masterclass of maladministration".

The news comes on the same day one farming leader described the industry as being on the verge of crisis as a result of years of intensive production.

Patrick Holden, policy director of organic lobby group Soil Association, told its annual conference that changes were needed to the way farming was conducted in the UK, particularly with regards to lowering the amount of input into food production.

His colleague Peter Melchett courted controversy too by suggesting the UK would have to cut its consumption of pork and poultry products by 75 per cent in order to meet emission reduction targets.

Minister Hilary Benn delivered a speech at the conference, held in Birmingham, in which he praised the UK organic industry's efforts in using science to bolster production and claimed mainstream farming could learn a lot from their example. He added that widespread changes were required in order for Britain to remain secure in its food production while minimising any environmental effects.

A note of caution was heard from Tory Shadow farming Minister Jim Paice, however, who said it was important not to impact on production levels, saying that modern farming techniques were fundamental to improving production levels.

The conference continues today.