Farmers 'must ensure they are justified in claiming support'

The Scottish Government and NFU Scotland linked up yesterday to warn all the 24,000 farm businesses in Scotland that receive a single farm payment and those that may also get less favoured area support cash to check their claim forms now to reassure themselves that all the land involved in their 2010 claim is eligible.

All claim forms had to be submitted back in May but government and union highlighted the possibility that there is still the option to correct any mistakes in the original application.

The move comes after a year of discontent brought about by deductions from the 2009 single farm payments because they included claims for areas of land deemed ineligible for support.

Most of the problems related to "impenetrable vegetation" such as banks of gorse or bracken and areas of rock and scree but yesterday's warning also points out that water courses, roads, yards and buildings should also be excluded from any claim form.

The warning comes with the added threat that some 5 per cent of farms around the country will have their claims checked as part of the routine annual inspection carried out on farms. If, on these farm visits, the inspector finds ineligible areas above one hectare or 0.5 per cent of the claimed land, the entire SFP and/or LFASS payment could be lost. In serious cases, the authorities might also claw back the previous three years of support.

Richard Lochhead, the cabinet secretary for rural affairs, stressed the serious nature of the situation saying producers should use this final opportunity to check and if necessary amend their claim forms.

"As failure to exclude ineligible land could invalidate a claim and lead to a penalty covering the previous three years of support, there is a lot at stake here for both individual farmers and rural Scotland as a whole," he said.

The cabinet secretary said the government could not "turn a blind eye to farmers claiming support on ineligible land".

Scotland was not being picked out by Europe, he added, saying that Northern Ireland, Spain, Germany and Luxembourg had all undergone similar audit procedures and they all faced significant fines. "Northern Ireland has been warned by the Commission that is faces a flat rate correction of 5 per cent against all CAP payments. This will total more than 60m."

NFU Scotland president Jim McLaren urged his members to take the opportunity to check their original application and make any necessary changes. This can be done without penalty now but if it is picked up later it will be deemed as an intentional and financial penalties will ensue.

He also highlighted the consequences of not getting the paperwork correct: "If ineligible land is being claimed and no attempt has been made by the farmer to adjust the claimed area then this will be deemed an intentional over-declaration and the farmer's entire claim is at risk.That is a high price to pay and one that few businesses could stand."