Farming families urged to seek support before the tipping point

Winter is the busiest time of the year for the Farming Community Network which wants farmers to approach them for support before problems mount up. Pic: James Hardisty.

At the end of a year in which the farming community has suffered delayed and inaccurate support payments worth millions of pounds combined, the Network’s Yorkshire co-ordinator Helen Benson has appealed to farmers to get in touch with help organisations early, instead of waiting until problems feel insurmountable over the winter months.

The industry’s concerns will be raised at Hexham Auction Mart tomorrow where the annual Northern Farming Conference features Farming Minister George Eustice among the speakers.

Mrs Benson said: “There is a lot of worry about the next round of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and how it’s going to pay out and when it’s going to come, especially in the tenant farming sector and among hill farmers who have suffered from some of the worst delays this year.

Helen Benson, Yorkshire co-ordinator at the Farming Community Network.

“The milk price has gone up a bit and sheep prices have improved but yields from harvest are down and there’s this worry about the future.

“Our cry to the community is contact us early, don’t wait until it’s the tipping point. Contact us early and we can do more to help. We are there alongside you for as long as we are needed. There are no time constraints and no costs and our service is confidential.”

Pressures on farmers were illustrated by new figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which showed average farm business incomes fell across almost all farm types in 2015/16.

Dairy producers suffered average income falls of 49 per cent and, also in the year to March 2016, pig producers saw their incomes dip by 56 per cent.

Bob Baker, an FCN volunteer based at Thirsk Auction Mart, said there were causes for optimism with plenty of corn sown ahead of winter, the post-Brexit referendum rise in imported food costs and record prices set at the autumn sheep shows for the best genetic lines, but he too is concerned about support payments.

By mid-October at least 10,500 farmers had been identified as having been underpaid their BPS payments - by a total of £27.4m.

Mr Baker said: “With Defra saying that it will get 90 per cent of the claims paid by the end of December and a further three per cent by the end of March 2017, this leaves seven per cent of the claimants - roughly 6,000 farmers - waiting until April to be paid.

“There remain some farmers who still haven’t received the 2015 payments yet, and the effect on cash flow is devastating for a business.”

The FCN does not issue grants but signposts people to charities that do. Last year, such as the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) made hardship grants totalling almost £200,000 to Yorkshire farming families,

The FCN runs a helpline on 03000 111 999 and a visiting service to farming families and individuals facing difficulties.

Its 400 volunteers provide pastoral and practical support to help with a range of issues from BPS and other financial problems to issues with farm tenancies and illness. To raise vital funds for the charity, it has launched a silent auction featuring 52 lots. Bids close on December 1. Click here for full details.