Copa and Cogeca have sent a letter with detailed proposals to EU Farm Commissioner Phil Hogan this week outlining areas where simplification in the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is vital.

Copa-Cogeca secretary-general Pekka Pesonen stressed: "The most urgent problems that farmers across the EU are facing when implementing the new CAP are the gaps in the rules and the lack of clarity, especially vis a vis the greening rules. The risk of unintentional errors during the first years of implementing the CAP will therefore be high, which would automatically cause payments to be cut. Since it is already too late to provide greater clarity about the rules, there must consequently be a certain amount of tolerance in the first years vis a vis cuts in greening payments. The whole sanctioning system also needs to be revised since even minor errors result in huge cuts in farmers' payments.

"We are also extremely worried that the number of controls will increase as a result of the numerous direct aid schemes under the new CAP. We will need to ensure that all eligibility conditions for the greening measures are controlled at the right moment with the higher control rate until all potential Ecological Focus Areas (EFA) have been mapped. We therefore believe for instance that it makes sense to check all greening requirements that can be controlled at that moment in one inspection only," he said.

Mr Pesonen went on: "In addition, the increasing amount of information requested will make the aid application more complex for farmers, in particular in 2015 due to the extremely short period of time available to them. One way to alleviate the burden would be to ensure that farmers are given the possibility to correct errors as part of the application process."

Market round-up

Lawrie & Symington Ltd held a show and sale of store cattle in Lanark on Tuesday when the championship was awarded to a LimousinX heifer scaling 482kg from Messrs J Wight & Son, Midlock , Crawford that went on to sell for £1460, or 302.9p per kg. The reserve went to a LimousinX bullock from Messrs Laird, Sunnyside that fetched £1380.

The firm sold 443 heifers to a top of £1460 per head and 302.9p per kg to average £953.14 and 231.7p, while 625 bullocks peaked at £1430 and 322.4p to level at £1065.35 and 244.5p.

Wallets Marts sold 471 prime hoggs in Castle Douglas on Tuesday to a top of £103 per head and 228.6p per kg to average 191.1p (+2p on the week).

There were also 363 cast sheep forward when ewes sold to £134 for Texels, £110 for Mules and £84 for Blackfaces.