Rural Payments Wales (RPW) full cross compliance inspections cover all aspects of cross compliance regulation, and all land that is used to claim payment through the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).

These inspections can be unannounced “on the spot”, or you may be given up to 48 hours’ notice. Some inspections require the inspector to walk all the land area declared on the SAF to cross-check land eligibility and make sure the submitted SAF is accurate and that there is no over-declaration. This could take days, depending on the size of the farm, and the inspectors often walk the farm independently.

There is a paperwork element of the inspection where routine documentation such as field records, whole farm loadings, risk maps would be assessed. They may also want to see animal records, and if applicable, any spray records. The farmyard is part of the audit, and the inspector will be looking at any potential pollution risk, usually in line with the SSAFO regulations.

The above has been summarised and extensive inspection content can be found at: https://www.gov.wales/farm-scheme-inspections-guide-farmers-2024-edition