Delegates get the CAP Essentials at NFU 15

Conference delegates got the CAP essentials from the NFU, and heard from the RPA's chief executive ahead of one of the major landmarks of recent farming times – the introduction of the new Basic Payments Scheme.

Senior adviser Richard Wordsworth gave an assessment of the challenges ahead in the run-up to the May 15 application deadline, and our view on what needs to happen next.

Read his speech here.
 

The RPA chief executive Mark Grimshaw said the current BPS figures represented 'good progress'.

He said: "49,642 businesses have registered on the service and we've received 47,234 registrations. 45,584 are customers and 1,650 of those are agents. The East of England are leading the way on registrations with 60 per cent completion rate. But it's the next few months that will pose the greatest challenge.

"We don't underestimate the challenge ahead, and the agency is leaner and more adaptable than before. This improved performance and capability will stand us in good stead over the next few months. We'll continue to gather views from key stakeholders and listen to farmer feedback. Within the complexity of EU regulations we've strived to make the schemes simple to understand and operate.

"With regard to greening, we have the flexibility to increase the range of EFA options on offer year on year so that you can adapt to this new requirement and learn lessons from the first year of implementation. We've simplified Active Farmer, particularly who's subject to the test. The original proposals required customers to provide evidence of their income from farming – now only those on the list of non-agricultural activities will have to go through the readmission process. And finally, the emphasis for meeting good GAEC standards means we've moved towards an outcome focused approach."

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