Pembrokeshire farmers have just weeks to meet the May 16th Single Farm Payment deadline - although forms have only landed on some doormats this week.

The pressure to get the forms completed in time could have been avoided if they had been sent out earlier, farmers have complained.

Steve Alderman, of Court Farm, Castlemartin, believed farmers should have been given longer. "In view of the importance of this form and its implications for the next ten years, four weeks is really not long enough,'' said dairy producer Mr Alderman, past county chairman of Pembrokeshire NFU. "No doubt farmers will need advice on issues arising from the forms but with just four weeks between receipt and submission advisors are going to be pushed to answer everyone's queries.''

Country Land and Business Association advisers say they have been working flat-out to help farmers understand the new system.

The new Single Farm Payment was a major change for British agriculture and its unsettling effects on farmers should not be underestimated, it stressed.

"The next few weeks look like being one of the busiest periods ever for CLA's advisers, and we are pulling out all the stops to make sure that we can give our members the best practical advice relevant to their individual circumstances up to and beyond the May 16th deadline,'' said a spokesman.

"The complexity of the new system is underlined by the wide range of questions we are being asked. There is no common thread; we are having to deal with all aspects of the new Common Agricultural Policy."

Pictured: Stephen Alderman. PICTURE: Debbie James.