DEFRA biased against North East

Following two seminars held this week by the CLA in Darlington and Hexham, North East farmers complained of unfair treatment in the administration of the Single Payment Scheme.

The events were attended by 130 farmers, who heard an update on the position regarding payments under the 2005 scheme and received information on the 2006 scheme. During the seminars, it emerged that very few attendees had received their payment compared with figures released by Defra and the Rural Payment Agency showing that 25% of all farmers in England have been paid.

Angus Collingwood – Cameron, CLA NE Regional Director, said “The low percentage of attendees that have received payment supports the feedback from Agents across the region. They consistently tell me that very, very few of their clients have received payment. The situation is a shambles across England but appears to be particularly bad here in the North East. Why? Could it be that many applications from the region were complicated due to Foot and Mouth? If so, those farmers are being penalised again for being affected by the disease.

“The rural economy is at crisis point, with pressure building all through the supply chain. Bills cannot be paid and rents cannot be met. To make matters worse, the poor spring has meant that livestock farmers have had to purchase additional feed as there is no grass for their stock. I implore Defra to release money to before it is too late. Most EU member states paid this money to their farmers last year. The situation is a disgrace.”