Industry alarm

Industry bodies involved in the crisis meeting with junior DEFRA minister Lord Bach and the new RPA chief Mark Addison have united to express their alarm at the single farm payment situation.

The Tenant Farmers Association, NFU and Country Land and Business Association stressed the very real concerns and distress of the farming and wider rural community at the totally unsatisfactory situation and emphasised the extreme urgency of getting payments out to their members.

Lord Bach invited the three organisations to a meeting in a week’s time at which the new chief executive of the RPA would report on the impact of changes that he had already made and make proposals for further measures to speed up the process.