Human cost of farm payment delays

You were right to question why the bill from Accenture doubled without query from either Defra or the Regional Payment Agency (Leaders, April 28). The National Audit Office will investigate what went wrong with the Rural Payments Agency and the single payment scheme in England: why the agency experienced difficulties in making payments, the impact on the farming sector, and what has been done to remedy matters.

But in part the fault lies with Defra for failing to realise the new system would introduce a raft of new claims: 120,000 claims for the single farm payment have been made, yet there are only 68,000 farm holdings over 20 hectares within England. This is the recognised minimum hectarage to sustain some form of farm income. There are probably only 45,000 farmers in England who rely on farming as their main source of income. These are the people who have not been paid and are now suffering. There is now the highest ever on-farm debt - exceeding £10bn - which is affecting all sectors of the agricultural and rural sector.

These are not farm subsidies, these are payments to maintain farmland in good agricultural and environmental condition, and thereby preserve the inherent characteristic of the English countryside. These are down-payments for the maintenance of the health of our regional environment. To date the RPA has been paying the wrong people; 40% of the claimants paid with 30% of the total subsidy shows these are not the main players. A survey of farmers, carried out by Farming Online, shows that to date only 17% have received this payment. England is the only country within the EU that has failed to pay its primary food producers to protect the environment. This is causing unnecessary hardship throughout the rural economy.
Peter Griffith
Director, Farming Online


As a rural minister, I and my colleagues see the results of the situation you refer to. Farmers and their families are facing rising levels of financial hardship and stress. This is possibly the biggest reorganisation in agriculture since the second world war and the way it has been introduced is shambolic. The silence on this matter in most of the media only increases the sense of isolation and frustration felt by farmers. There seems to be a feeling about that it doesn't matter where food comes from, as long as it's cheap; this ignores concerns about both animal welfare and environmental impact.
Rev Elizabeth Clark
Masham, North Yorks


Despite assertions that the only realistic threat from bird flu viruses to humans is from proximity to stricken fowl (Poultry worker gets eye infection from contact with bird flu, April 29), surely there is a more probable source - contact with a beloved pet, prone to contamination via garden birds, rats or pigeons.
KK Bhakoo
Walton-on-Thames, Surrey