Subsidy claim window
The annual payment claim goes to the Rural Payments Agency inside a fixed window that does not move, and it needs the holding's maps.
For farmers
The record keeping year on a working farm
Claim windows, movement reports and herd records decide the year's income long before the harvest does.
No account needed to see the proposed desk.
The recurring work
What farmers have to keep on top of
Every one of these has a date attached, a document behind it, and somebody who notices when it slips. This is what goes on the desk.
Land and parcel maps
Field parcels, land use and any changes to the holding are kept current, because the claim is calculated from the map that is on file.
Herd register and cattle passports
Births, deaths and movements are reported within the set deadlines and the cattle passports are held and updated, with an annual inventory of the herd.
Flock records and sheep inventory
Flock numbers and sheep movements are recorded and an annual inventory is returned, with the holding number on every movement document.
TB testing schedule
The herd's TB testing interval is set by the area's risk status, the test has to be booked inside the window, and the result is recorded against the herd.
Nitrate and slurry records
Nitrate vulnerable zone rules require field records and closed spreading periods, and the slurry and fertiliser applications are logged as they happen.
Sprayer and pesticide store checks
The sprayer needs its tested certificate in date and the operator needs a current certificate, with the pesticide store inspected and the application records kept.
Farm assurance inspection
The assurance scheme inspection falls due yearly or on a set cycle, and the medicine, feed and traceability records have to be complete for it.
Animal medicine records
Every animal medicine is logged with the date, the animal or group and the withdrawal period, and the records are kept for the period the scheme requires.
Machinery and vehicle testing
Tractors and other vehicles need tax and testing in date and the machinery is inspected on a schedule, since a breakdown in the spraying window is the costly failure.
What it costs to carry it
The payment depends on records that have to be made as the work happens, and that is the part that gets pushed to the end of a long day. A movement reported a day late or a medicine withdrawal period written down wrong can hold up a payment or a sale, and the inspection that follows is about the paperwork rather than the stock. The window for the claim never moves, and missing it by a week costs a year's income.
What the desk takes over
The desk works this list to its own schedule and reports what it did.
Fixed date diary
The desk holds the claim window, testing intervals and inventory dates in one calendar and warns ahead of each one.
Movement and register records
The desk keeps the movement, register and medicine logs up to date and flags entries that have not been completed.
Claim preparation
The desk drafts the claim from the holding's map and the previous year's figures and lists what has changed before it is checked.
Testing and inspection pack
The desk assembles the records an inspection asks for and books the test dates before the interval runs out.
What stays with the farmer
The farmer decides what is stocked, what is planted and when the work happens, and signs the claim. The judgement about the land and the stock is the farming, and the desk does not touch it.
Questions
Can the desk submit the annual subsidy claim?
It prepares the claim from the holding's map and the previous year's figures. The submission and the declarations are the farmer's, because the claim is a legal declaration.
How are cattle movements and passport details kept straight?
Each movement and passport sits as a dated record, so the register and the inventory can be worked from the same list.
What happens if a TB test is missed?
A missed test window restricts movement off the holding until the test is done. The desk tracks the interval and warns before the window opens.
Put the farmer's recurring work on the desk
Start with a name, a website and one sentence about what the business does. The desk proposes the list; the farmer corrects it.