Combining farming and environmental responsibility has proved a huge challenge for DEFRA

Combining farming and environmental responsibility has proved a huge challenge for DEFRA

The National Farmers’ Union has suggested a DEFRA cover-up and a long-term failing at the department as the UK government faces fines over its green approach.

The NFU called on DEFRA to challenge the EU Commission after it revealed that the department may face steep fines for alleged non-compliance for its administration of the agri-environment schemes for England. The NFU questioned how long DEFRA had known about this issue.

The non-compliance centres on the process for verifying payments and the commission wants to see these carried out in a single group after 15 May each year rather than throughout the year as is currently the case.

This will lead to severe delays in payments to some farmers and growers who joined the scheme many months before the 15 May deadline.

NFU president Peter Kendall said the situation was “astonishing” given the schemes have been operational for several years and were approved by the EU Commission.

Kendall lambasted the government department. He said: “The farming industry places its trust in DEFRA to administer agri-environment schemes in England and, more importantly, to ensure that they stay within the rules for delivery. This situation could seriously compromise the cash flow of many farmers and growers who rely on regular agri-environment payments when planning for their business.

“But there are some important questions that need answering. Firstly, how long has DEFRA known about this issue and how big a problem is it in reality. DEFRA has indicated to us that it thinks its current process for conducting cross-checks is robust. If this is the case, we would expect DEFRA to give full consideration to a legal challenge against the commission’s interpretation.”

Kendall added: “With the loss of the Hill Farm Allowance and the risk posed by the introduction of additional regulation if the CFE fails, the importance of these schemes to farmers and growers must not be under-estimated or diminished.

“At the very least, DEFRA needs to find the best way forward out of this mess and ensure it has as little impact as possible on farmers. I will be looking for a firm commitment from DEFRA that any introduction of changes will be carried out with sufficient resource and maximum efficiency by its agencies.”