FARMERS who want to ensure they get the subsidies to which they are entitled under the new Single Farm Payment (SFP) system are being urged not to ignore forms from the Rural Payments Agency.

Jeremy Moody keynote speaker at the Yorkshire Farmers' Conference advised farmers to start completing the new forms now, leaving plenty of time for clarification before the 16 May deadline.

The new system replaces former production-related subsidies and is linked with good agricultural and environmental management of farmland, a process known as cross-compliance. Claims will in future be made on the basis of the area farmed, rather than production, and forms are being sent to farmers now seeking details of their farms.

Mr Moody, who is secretary and policy adviser to the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), told the audience of farmers from across the region that the guidance notes for the vital SP5 application form were still being amended.

"Defra are still stumbling over their own feet but the clock is ticking," he said.

"These forms set the income from subsidy for your farms for the next few years - no one is sure quite how many. If you do not get it right by May 16, you do not get it right at all."

The conference, at York Racecourse, was organised jointly by Carter Jonas and AMC.

Updated: 10:31 Thursday, March 31, 2005