By August 1, 2024, farms will need to have sufficient capacity to store slurry for five months or risk prosecution under the new Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021.

But the consultant, who did not wish to be named, says farmers who had lodged an application for grant funding for this infrastructure under the Nutrient Management Investment Scheme were being challenged by the “most ridiculous queries’’ and given just seven days to respond or risk their application being rejected.

One was asked to provide his 2022/23 set of accounts – in February 2023.

“Quite a few of the queries are along the lines of ‘Could you please confirm the repayment terms of these debts listed under Current Liabilities in the 2022 accounts, Bank Current Account, Sundry Creditors and Accruals and Hire Purchases. Are these repayable in full in the next 12 months?’

“Anyone with even a basic knowledge of finance will know that those are not short-term funding arrangements,’’ the consultant suggests.

“More queries are coming in daily and now some rejections which is hugely frustrating.’’

He pointed to the disparity between the time taken for queries to be raised by Rural Payments Wales (RPW), and the time given to farmers to respond.

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“Farmers get a message on RPW advising them that they must answer the query within seven days – the closing date for applications was November 30, 2022, so Welsh Government have had 100 days or more to come back with those queries but they give farmers just seven days to respond.’’

In a statement, the Welsh Government said the request for 2022/23 accounts was an error.

“RPW required 2021/22 accounts. Checks have shown this was an isolated error and we have apologised to the farmer for this,’’ said a spokesperson.

The definition of current liabilities in the accounts is that these would be repayable within 12 months, the spokesperson added.

“They should be classified correctly in accounts, between those repayable within one year (current liabilities) and those repayable over a longer period (long term liabilities). Each business plan should contain these details, however, in some cases RPW require confirmation.’’

The government defended the seven-day response time.

“The scheme literature clearly set outs what documentation and information needs to be submitted. This information is a known requirement as part of the application process; it is expected applicants would have this information available,’’ said its spokesperson.

“Where appropriate, an additional seven days may be given to respond. If more time is required, farmers can request it and each case would be considered on its merits.’