Lure of £1.35bn development proves a big draw for farmers

THE LURE of a share in a five-year £1.35 billion rural development fund was enough to draw nearly 400 farmers and land managers to a Perth meeting on Monday evening.

The numbers seeking information on the long-awaited Scottish Rural Development Programme were so great that both of the large conference rooms in the Dewar Centre had to be used and even then it was standing room only with Scottish Government officials giving simultaneous presentations in both halls.

The message of course was the same and was a mix of the familiar and the new.

Many of the elements of the new SRDP , such as the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) and the funding for agri-environment measures continue but there is one critical move which has to be undertaken before any applications can be made.

David Barnes, chief agricultural officer at the Rural Payments and Inspection Directorate (RPID) reminded the audience that every individual business in Scotland would need to re-register to gain access not only to the SRDP but also to the Basic Payment Scheme which delivers farm support.

Around 10,000 of the more than 20,000 businesses expected to register had done so already online and Mr Barnes encouraged the remainder not to wait until the last minute.

The SRDP application window opens in mid-March and closes on May 29 so time is short.

Unlike the old SRDP which had several application windows throughout the year, this new version will only have one with the next window not expected to open until January next year.

“We have tried to simplify things with one stage applications only,” said Mr Barnes.

“This would bring to an end the old process of multistage approvals which had often proved so frustrating.”

There was, however, a warning that the rules of the new SRDP were not completely set in stone.

The design of the programme had started as long ago as March 2011 but certain elements had still not gained EU Commission approval and might not do so until mid-summer.

“Until we have approval things may change,” Mr Barnes said.

“Everything is based on what we know so far.”

This uncertainty could have an effect particularly on agri-environment measures.

John Maxwell, the RPID official in charge of SRDP implementation pointed to the total of £350 million allocated for the purpose.

Applications would be competitive for the most part with available measures on the Rural Payments and Services website.

Whole farm environmental assessments would have to be made and these would be considered by RPID and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to see if the proposals met various criteria including value for money and the meeting of national priorities.

There would be a new requirement to keep a management diary to record actions such as sowing wild bird seed.

Penalties would be applied keeping poor diaries.

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Mr Maxwell cautioned that although some measures would be compatible with the Environmental Focus Area requirements under Pillar One, the onus was on applicants to check there was no double funding.

Indeed the general thrust of the new SRDP was to put more responsibility on applicants to make sure they understood what they were applying for.

The LFASS budget, seen by many as vital to the continuance of hill farming, would amount to £459m over the five years of the programme but changes to the scheme were expected from 2018 onwards.

Mr Maxwell confirmed that inspections from 2015 would be in line with existing procedures.

Forestry will attract £250m of funding for woodland creation and management with local approval for schemes costing up to £750,000 and head office approval needed for larger projects.

Forestry Commission Scotland would be running seminars in coming months to explain the options in greater detail.

There was much more to absorb over the course of near-two-hour presentations.

As the would-be SRDP beneficiaries disgorged from the Dewar Centre halls, looking for all the world like audiences leaving a multiplex cinema, the mood was more contemplative than joyous.

There might be gold at the end of the SRDP rainbow but there will clearly be costs and risks involved in reaching it.

David Barnes, chief agricultural officer at the Rural Payments and Inspection Directorate.