Relief as single payment deadline extended
THE NFU has expressed “huge relief” that the deadline for the submission of farmers’ 2006 single payment scheme applications has been put back from May 15 to May 31.

THE NFU has expressed “huge relief” that the deadline for the submission of farmers’ 2006 single payment scheme applications has been put back from May 15 to May 31.

NFU president Peter Kendall said: “This is something that we and our partner organisations have been arguing for very strongly for many weeks, since it became apparent that the chaos in the Rural Payments Agency with 2005 SPS claims was knocking on into the 2006 application process.

Mr Kendall claimed that it is still important for farmers to submit their claims by May 15 if at all possible, but admitted: “This extra breathing space will come as a huge relief to the thousands of farmers who simply would not have been able to meet the original deadline because they have been provided with inaccurate or incomplete information by the RPA.”

Mr Kendall added that the NFU had made a formal request to the Government to make advance payments of 2006 SPS in December, in order to avoid a repeat of this year’s cash flow crisis for the industry.


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