NFU Scotland President John Kinnaird has welcomed the announcement today by Rural Development Minister Ross Finnie that farmers will receive 75 per cent of their Single Farm Payment when the payment window opens in December. NFUS is continuing to stress to the Executive the importance of ensuring that the vast majority of farmers have their applications cleared in time to receive this payment.

There had been concern that because of system delays in England, where farmers are unlikely to see any support payments until at least February 2006, there could be knock-on effects for Scottish farmers. This is because of a technicality relating to the funding of the Single Farm Payment National Reserve.

As a result, NFUS has been in discussion with the Executive to ensure Scottish farmers did not lose out as a result of delays south of the border. At the NFUS AGM in February, the Minister made a commitment to pay as much as possible to farmers once the payment window opened in December. Subsequent discussions in Brussels gave the Executive approval to issue at least 70 per cent of payments at that time. The Executive has now confirmed this has risen to 75 per cent.

NFUS President John Kinnaird said:

“The Minister and his officials have worked hard to secure agreement for these payments and they are extremely important for the industry. Of course, the next step is to ensure that as many farmers as possible have their application cleared to receive payments next month. In particular, it is essential that the Executive carries out any outstanding farm inspections as soon as possible so payments can be issued in December.

“There has always been a concern about cash-flow because this is the first year of the new system. Instead of regular issuing of support payments throughout the year, farmers have had to either borrow or adjust expenditure plans to take account of the new annual payment. The timely arrival of three quarters of their payment will be a significant help.”

· Farmers have received estimates of their individual Single Farm Payment from their local Scottish Executive office. NFUS is reminding farmers that those figures are subject to further percentage deductions for modulation (6.5%) and the national reserve (estimated to be at least 3%). The estimates are expressed in euros and the guideline exchange rate used in the letter was €1 = £0.70p. However, the final exchange rate has now been set by the Commission at €1 = £0.68195p.

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