New technology is a must for all farmers

We shop online, get our news online and a lot of us even socialise online.

But not everyone, especially those who live in rural areas, have been able to embrace the internet to such an extent.

In just five months' time, farmers who have not registered online for the new Basic Payment Scheme will not be able to claim their agricultural subsidy – there will be no paper forms to fill in so if you can't use the internet you will miss out.

This could be a real problem for a lot of farmers, many of whom are older or live in one of the large swathes of Shropshire countryside with no broadband.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Shropshire Council's government-backed Connecting Shropshire project will see £16 million invested to bring fibre-optic broadband to rural areas.

In addition to the physical laying of cables, the scheme also provides help and advice on using broadband as part of everyday life – perfect for those who have never really used the internet before.

The BPS will replace the current Single Payment Scheme in January 2015 and all farmers need to have registered themselves and the rural surveyors acting on their behalf before it comes into force.

This is a huge change and many farmers who are not prepared for it in advance will find things very difficult.

You need to start thinking now about how and when you are going to register – you can start registering from October and time really is of the essence.

Your rural surveyor will also be happy to help you get registered online but if you do not have broadband and do not live in one of the areas earmarked by Connecting Shropshire, you need to ask for help as soon as possible.

However much we might long for simpler times, technology moves on at an every increasing pace. We now live in a digital age and the time has come for all farmers to embrace that as much as possible.

* Angela Cantrill MRICS FAAV, Senior Surveyor at Madeleys Chartered Surveyors