SP5 forms still not here

CHRIS DOWSE, manager of Sir Richard Sutton’s Settled Estates near Market Rasen, says the situation would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.

“What can you say? It’s ludicrous.” Mr Dowse says the Rural Payments Agency hasn’t provided any sort of explanation.

“It just keeps saying we should be getting the forms soon. It really is an absolute nonsense.

“When the form does eventually arrive we’ll just have to burn the midnight oil and get it done.”

But he is under no illusions about the enormity of the task.

Combined with owner Sir Richard Sutton’s estate in Berkshire, the claim will cover over 4050ha (10,000 acres) and last year’s IACS application included over 90 field data sheets.

Mr Dowse has used Farmplan software to help with IACS claims but has only just received the disk needed to update the package to cope with the single farm payment.

“Farmplan tells me DEFRA has only just given its approval for the disk. I think the entire scheme shouldn’t have been introduced for another year.”

In common with many farmers, the estate’s digital maps have also not been updated correctly by the Rural Land Register.

Coupled with the work needed to make a last-minute claim for the SFP, Mr Dowse says this means he is unlikely to be joining the entry level environmental stewardship scheme at the earliest opportunity.

“I’m aiming for the July 31 slot, with a start date of Nov 1. There is no way we can make the first date.”

And he is not impressed by DEFRA’s guidance notes for filling in the SFP claim form either.

“Some of it is gobbledygook. The people I feel most sorry for are those farmers with a large acreage that they manage on their own.

“They’ve got to cope with all of this and get on with the normal everyday stuff.”