NFUS National Reserve Helpline Opens
07/02/05

NFU Scotland has opened a Helpline to assist its members in dealing with the National Reserve. The Helpline number is 0131 472 4015 (9am to 5pm) and will be manned by NFUS staff. The National Reserve is available to eligible farmers to ensure they are not disadvantaged by the change in how farming subsidies are paid from 2005 onwards.

The Helpline is opened to coincide with the delivery from tomorrow of 10,000 National Reserve guides to NFUS members across Scotland.

The NFUS Guide will help farmers identify if they are eligible to apply to the National Reserve and, if they are, the next steps they should take. The Guide is designed to simplify a very complicated system, but inevitably farmers will still have questions about their own circumstances. The Helpline (0131 472 4015) has been opened to ensure NFUS members get answers to any outstanding questions.

The Helpline is open from 9am to 5pm. Callers should quote their membership number and they will be passed to one of NFU Scotland's expert staff.

The NFUS Guide to the National Reserve is free to NFUS members. Non-members of NFUS can also receive a Guide at a cost of £35 by calling 0131 472 4015.

The new Single Farm Payment came into effect on 1 January 2005 and marks a radical change in how farm subsidies are paid. Farmers will now receive a single annual payment, rather than payments directly linked to the numbers of animals or area of arable land they farm.

• The new payment is based on farming activity between 2000 and 2002. Because many farm businesses will have developed, expanded or have been established since the reference period, thousands of farmers could be disadvantaged by the change.
• A National Reserve has been created to ensure that farmers and crofters are not disadvantaged by the changeover.
• Every farmer will have his/her Single Farm Payment scaled back to fund the National Reserve. The scale-back is envisaged at three per cent, however this figure could rise in line with demand.