Barry Mann is the Rural Payments Agency shows and events manager
This year we are attending many more agricultural shows and events, giving us the chance to meet our customers and share information on Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Reform.
In January we started our record event schedule at the Lincs Agricultural Machinery Show in Cambridgeshire - the first of 33 appearances booked across the country, from Cornwall to Carlisle.
In June, we will be at a total of six shows across the country:
Royal Cornwall Show – 5/6/7 June
South of England Show – 5/6/7 June
The Cereals Show – 11/12 June - where you can see and try out the new CAP Information Service
Royal Three Counties Show – 13/14/15 June
Lincolnshire Show – 18/19 June
Royal Norfolk Show – 25/26 June
The events we attended in the first half of the year were very helpful to show farmers the benefits of SPS Online, and to date we have had almost 70,000 digital claims made successfully – an increase of almost 15,000 on last year.
The first information to help people involved in farming, wildlife conservation and rural businesses understand how the new CAP will affect them has been issued. The busy event schedule proves our commitment to help customers by giving them information and support with the changes.
People are encouraged to come along to the shows and find out more about the new schemes and timing of further updates, and we are on hand to answer questions where we have the information. Where policy is yet to be agreed, we will incorporate queries into future guidance.
Up-to-date information will be available throughout the year on the GOV.UK website at www.gov.uk/cap-reform.