Scots tackle IACS
Scots tackle IACS
THE Scottish Office is writing to 3500 farmers in a concerted bid to resolve IACS mapping problems in time for the first arable aid payments to be made from Oct 16.
The letters seek assistance from farmers in getting a unique identification for each of the 400,000 fields on which IACS payments are claimed in Scotland. About 90,000 fields are still giving problems but officials are confident most of those involving arable aid can be resolved before Oct 16 if farmers play their part in responding to the letters.
A helpline, currently taking 200 calls a week, is available to speed the process. The field register team can be contacted on 0131-244 1938 during office hours. Meanwhile, three-quarters of the 1100 farmers who had 5% of 1997 arable aid payments withheld because of mapping problems have now been paid. *