Letter of the law: no more cheques in the post

THE anxious wait by farmers for the arrival of the postman with a cheque from the Department of Agriculture, which has been part of farm life for nearly two decades, is to become a memory of the past in 2009.

As the age of electronics takes hold of another element of control on farmers, nether the postman delivery of the cheque nor the cheque itself will be arriving to farmers in the future from the Department.

To comply with the EU requirements after 2008 all scheme payments to all farmers from the Department of Agriculture must be issued to a bank account and these payments can no longer be made by cheque.