Amnesty plea as farm payment rules tighten up

And, with confusion mounting over how land qualification rules were being interpreted, NFU Scotland called for an amnesty for farmers about to fill in their 2010 applications.

The call came as NFU Scotland committee chairman John Picken accused officials of "out-of-touch thinking" over the rules on arable land.

The union wants an amnesty for farmers still unsure how to properly fill in their 2010 applications, which are due to be submitted by 17 May.

It also wants the amnesty to apply to farmers who have suffered retrospective penalties on their 2009 Single Farm Payments as a result of land previously used to claim support payments now being deemed ineligible under inspection last year.

NFUS president Jim McLaren said it was unacceptable that a few days from the IACS (Integrated Administration and Control System) deadline, thousands of farmers were unclear on the issue of land eligibility.

He said: "There have now been some public meetings but no clear information has been issued with the SAF (single application form] paperwork either last year or this year."

He claimed many farmers had been told they faced penalties for claiming land covered by bracken and gorse as a result of more stringent criteria being imposed by the government.

Most of those are in the hills and upland areas of Scotland and it is believed many hill sheep farmers are facing hefty penalties under the new interpretation of eligible land.

"The situation surrounding the eligibility of ground affected by bracken is probably the most frustrating for farmers. Invariably, there is some grazing value within bracken for most of the year and producers need to know what degree of cover from bracken or whins will tip land into the 'ungrazable' category and make it ineligible.

"We believe ground covered with bracken, but which has grass and herbage suitable for grazing under the bracken canopy, is eligible. If the Scottish Government disagrees with that, then they need to inform claimants immediately."

Farmer John Picken, who chairs the combinable crops committee of the NFUS, is also caught up in the current controversy. He faces questions next week about some gorse growing on a steep bank being grazed by his small herd of cattle on his farm near St Andrews. He said: "It is difficult to see why it was alright one year and now I am being told it is not all right."

Picken is also very concerned that a strict interpretation of the rules regarding arable crops could catch out a number of cereal growers.

"One of the rules that so far has evaded me is the requirement that one year in five, an arable crop must have its straw chopped and incorporated into the soil. It is not good enough to leave the stubble which could be 15in long and return the chaff." He pointed out that, nowadays, combines perform more efficiently and faster as well as using less fuel if there is not as much straw going through with the crop. "Why should we have to use more fuel to chop the straw when it could be ploughed in and let nature take its course?

"Some organisation has been lobbying overzealously to have these out-of-date but supposedly environmentally beneficial tasks (imposed]."

In addition to the amnesty, NFU Scotland has asked the Scottish Government to consider two other routes for those hit by the tightening of land eligibility rules. It argues that, because this information was not available when the Single Farm Payment was first allocated across land, affected producers should be allowed to explore the option of recalculating their entitlements, removing ineligible land from their base area.

Alternatively, producers should be given the option of having the eligible area calculated taking the slope of the land into consideration rather than the flat-mapping system currently being used. Building relief into the area calculation would free up additional land and allow any affected producer the ability to make full use of his SFP entitlements.

McLaren said the current stushie was not about trying to circumvent rules. "This is about the goalposts having shifted and farmers now finding themselves losing support through no fault of their own."

However, a Scottish Government spokesman said there was no regulatory grounds upon which to request an amnesty as Single Farm Payment rules had not changed since the scheme's introduction in 2005.

The spokesman said: "In order to protect payments, farmers must carefully consider eligibility. That is why we have invested heavily in producing a guidance booklet and hosting public meetings. Any farmer who remains unclear should contact their local area office."