Farmers can’t ignore yellow letter

WELSH FARMERS who visit their union‘s stands at the major summer shows are being warned that an imminent deadline could have a big impact on their future incomes.

Industry leaders and Welsh Assembly civil servants are becoming increasingly concerned that around 75% of producers have not checked and returned pre-printed data conformation forms, on which their single farm payment entitlements will be based.

An assembly spokeswoman says it will be assumed that the figures for historic CAP payments are accurate if farmers fail to sign and send back the forms by Sept 17.

These are the ones which arrived in bright yellow envelopes to make them conspicuous.

“Anyone who needs help can get it at our divisional offices, or from staff attending all the major summer shows,” she said.

Emyr Jones, Farmers Union of Wales deputy president, told members attending Meirionydd Show that it was vital for them to check the figures very thoroughly.

“If members have any general queries they should contact their nearest FUW county office as soon as possible,” he advised.

To reinforce the message that time is running out, the FUW has supplied local newspapers with the telephone numbers of all their offices.

It has also given them numbers for the assembly‘s three divisional offices that can deal with more complex problems.

Dai Davies, NFU Cymru deputy president, told a press conference at Monmouth Show that he was worried that so many forms were unreturned.

“Our advice is that members should not put off until tomorrow something than can do today to ensure that they get their correct entitlements,” he urged.

Union leaders believe that the stop-go cereal and forage harvests, the large number of lambs reaching slaughter weights, and early breeding stock sales have encouraged farmers to put off paper work.

“We all welcomed the use of an historical model to calculate SFPs,” said an FUW spokesman.

“But it is absolutely essential that farmers check that that the assembly intends to use accurate figures for payments received during reference years.”