Transfers deadline looms for farmers

Unfortunately, the RPA have made it clear they will not accept any transfers online nor hand delivery; and therefore you will have to ensure the RLE1 forms are in the post before the weekend and I would advise recorded delivery.

You should note that next Tuesday is not the final opportunity for entitlement transfer but none can take place from 22nd October through to a date yet to be announced in mid January.

This moratorium is to give the RPA opportunity to have a stable base of entitlements to roll them forward at the end of this year when the scheme changes to BPS.

From January onwards, all transfers will have to be done online using the CAP Information Service (CAPIS) and the transferee has got to be an ‘active farmer’ on which I have a bit more information below.

The entitlements market is a touch over supplied with forced sellers in the shape of those public organisations together with farmers of less than 5 hectares, losing their right to claim next year.

If you need to buy, the market is quite tempting with prices varying from £125 to £150 per hectare dependant on the size you want.

I have to say that most sellers seem to be sticking around the £150 mark and they do look value for money giving more than a full return of your investment within 12 months.

Endless debate on what  constitutes an active farmer

The debate seems endless on the definition of an ‘active farmer’ and for starters it does not involve being what we would recognise as a real farmer.

The focus is merely on excluding certain types of activity and introducing a minimum level of that activity on what the EU calls ‘naturally kept land’.

• To be a ‘farmer’ must involve carrying out an ‘agricultural activity’

• ‘Agricultural activity’ has itself got 3 paragraphs of qualification including production of crops and animals, and maintaining land in a suitable state for grazing or cultivation.

So far, so good; and most of us would now believe we are ‘farmers’ according to the EU dictionary.

• There is a negative list which excludes from the BPS Scheme anyone who operates an activity included on this list. It is not concerned with the scale of the activity, merely with the fact that it is being operated by the prospective claimant.

The target list comprises Airports, Railway Services, Waterworks, Real Estate Services and Permanent Sport or Recreational Grounds. Of these, the only one of real concern is ‘Permanent Sport and Recreational Grounds’, where we still have questions to be answered about farmers who run a camping or caravan site, which seem potentially to fall within the negativity net.

In Ryedale this could be a concern and we should keep an eye on forthcoming RPA clarification.

• Requalification is possible as an ‘active farmer’, if you happen to be unlucky and fall under the negative list by meeting one of three readmission tests.

These comprise an income test, significant agricultural activity, and principle business being agriculture.

The mists are gradually clearing around the new BPS Scheme leaving some anomalies to sort out before next May.

Geoff  comes home with national ploughing trophy

When I first started farming and auctioneering, more than 50 years ago, Tom Midgley of Painsthorpe Wold, Kirby Underdale, was already famous for producing Suffolk sheep. Besides been a legend in his lifetime, Tom was also a real country gentleman and I well remember him letting me have a few of his precious female Suffolks to start my own son Tom on his career.

He would have been rightly proud of his son Geoff who moved to Brandsby 36 years ago working for the Machin family.

He ploughed for the late John ‘Diesel Jack’ Machin with a Fiat 102 crawler tractor pulling a 6 furrow reversible Dowdeswell plough.

Since he retired he has downsized to a Ferguson T20 tractor with 2 furrow plough, and spends his time competing with other enthusiasts.

On Monday, the National Ploughing Championships were held in Hampshire and there were 30 ploughmen competing in his class.

Geoff came home with the trophy and to our heartiest congratulations.

Relief at new market lease

It is, again, a great relief to tell you that as the lease on the old market expired last Friday, so a 3 month extension was signed up for by the Directors of the Farmers Market Company.

There is little more to be said apart from thanking Malton Estate for their generosity and emphasising that we have this short window to get the planning permission together with a Section 106 Agreement firmly in place.

I know the Directors are working hard along with the developers to reach agreement with the council and meanwhile the market needs all the support you can give.

Milk price cuts bite hard

By way of illustration rather than confrontation, I do not think many of us earning a living outside of farming would readily accept a 25% cut in our income; but that bleak prospect has become reality for many dairy farmers.

Milk price cuts have been creeping in with insidious progress since mid summer and 32p per litre at the farm gate has dropped in many cases to 24p.

It is a sad fact that we operate in a global food market where prices have fallen for the sixth consecutive month.

There have been record production levels, not only for dairy products but also cereals.

Dairy farmers are angry because nearly all their milk is sold on the domestic market which they claim could have sustained a drop of 3p to 3.5p per litre and not the 9p that has been imposed.

Demonstrations outside processing plants and supermarkets are taking place as I write with huge numbers estimated at over 500 in attendance.

As ever the finger is pointed at our major retailers who seem waterproof to any attempt to negotiate.

On Monday, Iceland slashed its online price for a 4 pint carton of milk to 80p!

There is a lot in what the farmers say and I believe the British housewife would be happy to pay a few pennies more to ensure there are cows still grazing our fields in years to come.