SEVERE weather payments are now available for sheep farmers located in certain Herefordshire postcodes.
Defra has made up to £250,000 available to subsidise the cost of collecting and rendering sheep that died in the severe late March snow following lobbying by the NFU.
The funds are intended to cover the unexpected costs of the collection of fallen stock between April 1 2013 and May 15 2013 inclusive.
The NFU says that while this is not compensation for the total loss of income it provides a contribution and an acknowledgement by the Government of the hardship endured.
In Herefordshire the following post codes are eligible for this support. They are: HR2 0NJ, HR2 0PN, HR2 0PX, and HR2 0NL.
These post codes were agreed on the basis of local information received direct from county NFU advisers and also Met Office snowfall data.
The National Fallen Stock Company (NFSCo) will administer the scheme, but farmers do not need to be members already or have used a member collector in order to apply for the support.
Farmers will be able to claim up to 75 per cent of the actual costs paid for collection and rendering. This percentage may be reduced if the total amount paid exceeds the £250,000 available.
Farmers that are members of NFSCo do not need to do anything at this stage in order to apply for this support, as it will use information on their system to check postcodes and eligibility for members.
NFSCo will contact farmers in July with confirmation of how much money they can expect to receive.
Those farmers who are not members of NFSCo, or who used collectors that are not members, will need to submit a completed and signed application form to NFSCo and supply evidence such as receipts or paid invoices.
Applications must be received by NFSCo by June 30 2013.