A SERIES of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) briefings, focusing on the new Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), will be held by the NFU North-East next week followed by more in November.

Richard Wordsworth, NFU national BPS adviser, will outline key elements of the scheme, as well as ‘greening’ measures and the government’s new IT roll-out at Bowburn Hall Hotel, Durham, at 2pm and Malton Rugby Club at 7.30pm, both on Wednesday, and at The Kyte, Darrington, on Thursday at 7pm. The November meetings are planned for York, Willington, Ponteland, Skipton, Thirsk and Stokesley.

The NFU is also responding to farmer concerns about the requirement to submit all BPS claims electronically.

Richard Pearson, regional director, said: “For more remote areas with poor broadband access, this could prove challenging – not only because of the poor broadband availability, but also because farmers in those areas have little experience of using online systems.”

The NFU plans to offer online clinics, where laptops and free broadband will be available with tutors to talk through the process of registering with the Rural Payments Agency.

“We are not sure how many of our members may want to use this facility, so would like to hear from anyone interested. This will help us plan where best to stage our workshops,” said Mr Pearson.

“Adapting to the latest round of CAP reform will be a challenge for local farmers – not least because the fine detail of what they will be required to do is emerging very late in the day. Our focus now is on helping to make the transition as painless as possible and provide one-to-one advice and guidance where needed. Anyone struggling to get to grips with the new scheme should get in touch with their NFU county adviser as soon as possible.”

NFU members wanting to book for one of next week's meetings or register interest in an IT workshop should contact 01904 451550 or email north.east@nfu.org.uk.