Veg growers have been warned they could be left in breach of their BRC traceability obligations and face additional red tape costs as a result of a new interpretation of farm subsidy rules.

The Rural Payments Agency’s latest guidelines on the single payment scheme (SPS), published in mid-March, have introduced a new interpretation of the rule that requires landowners to be in full control of their land on 15 May each year - the date of the application deadline for EU farm subsidies - in order to claim monies.

Most vegetable growers in the UK, however, did not own land but had a contractual relationship with landowners that allowed them to grow crops while the landowner claimed the single farm payment subsidy, said Tim Russ, head of agriculture practice at law firm Clarke Willmott.

If a landowner were to start asserting he was in full control of his land on 15 May - and the grower therefore was not in control of his own crop on that day - growers could find themselves in breach of BRC traceability rules, he warned.

“There are ways around this - mainly by putting in place complex commercial arrangements - but this is adding a lot of red tape and extra cost to growers.”

There would be scope to challenge the RPA’s interpretation through a judicial review, but it was too early to tell whether growers would go down that route, he added.

The RPA pointed out that the rules had not changed, just the interprepartion, and added that it had written to “affected farmers”.

NFU single payment scheme adviser Richard Wordsworth added he did not believe the new RPA guidance would create problems for growers.

“I can see why some people would be concerned, but this really just clarifies existing rules and we’ve issued guidance to our members on this,” he said.

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