Where is the photo of the flower margin?
Your farm has one or more scheme agreements, perhaps a Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement, Countryside Stewardship, or an older scheme still running. Each has actions on particular fields: a cover crop here, a flower margin there, hedgerow management along a boundary, a winter bird food plot by the wood. Each action comes with requirements about what to do, when, and what evidence to keep.
When someone needs that evidence, the hunt starts. The photo of the margin in flower is on your son's phone, somewhere among thousands of others. The seed invoice is in the accounts folder, filed under the merchant's name. The date the cover crop was drilled is in the cab notebook. The hedge cutting dates are in the contractor's invoice.
Why scheme evidence scatters
The evidence is created in the normal course of farming, by different people and in different tools. None of it is created with the agreement in mind.
- Photos are taken on whichever phone is to hand, with no link to the action or field.
- Invoices for seed mixes or materials are filed by supplier, not by agreement.
- Operation dates are in the cab notebook, the crop records or the contractor's paperwork.
- Agreement documents list actions by parcel reference, while the team knows fields by name.
- Several agreements, starting and ending at different times, may cover the same field.
What evidence each scheme expects, and what counts as enough, is set by the scheme rules and the paying agency. We do not interpret those rules, and we cannot promise that what you keep is sufficient. Your adviser or agent is the right person for that. The job we can help with is making sure the evidence you decide to keep is captured when it happens and can be found later.
The cost of evidence you cannot find
Scheme payments can be an important part of farm income, and a request for evidence you cannot find quickly is stressful at best. The consequences depend on the scheme and on the case, and we are not the people to advise on them.
The routine cost is time. Every claim, check or renewal means reassembling the evidence from scratch. If an adviser or agent helps you, their time spent searching for your photos is time you pay for.
An evidence log for each action
What we build is an evidence log that ties each piece of evidence to the agreement action and field it belongs to.
- Your agreements are set up with their actions, the fields or parcels each applies to, and the key dates you take from the agreement documents. Parcel references are linked to the names your team uses.
- A phone screen lets anyone on the farm capture evidence: pick the action (or tap the field on a map and see its actions), take photos, add a note. Each photo keeps its date and location.
- Invoices for seed, materials and contractor work are forwarded by email or photographed, and tagged to the action they relate to, with a person confirming.
- Operation records from your crop records, cab records or contractor worksheets can be linked to the action, so drilling or cutting dates appear without being retyped.
- Each action shows a timeline of evidence and any dates you have set as reminders, such as when a photo should be taken or an operation carried out, according to your own reading of the agreement.
- When evidence is needed, you can produce a pack per action or per agreement, with photos, invoices and records in date order.
| Evidence | Before | In the log |
|---|---|---|
| Photo of a margin or cover | Someone's phone gallery | Tagged to the action and field, dated and located |
| Seed mix invoice | Accounts folder by supplier | Linked to the action it was bought for |
| Drilling or cutting date | Cab notebook or contractor invoice | Linked from the operation record |
| Your own notes | Diary | On the action's timeline |
When the request for evidence arrives
A request comes in for evidence on one action. You open the log, choose the action and produce a pack: the seed invoice, the drilling date from the crop record, and four dated, located photos taken through the season. You send it to your agent to check before it goes anywhere.
Through the year, the reminders you set prompt someone to take the photos at the right times, and the team knows to pick the action on their phone rather than just taking a snap.
Is your scheme evidence in a shoebox?
- Evidence photos are spread across several people's phones.
- Invoices for scheme materials are filed by supplier, not by agreement.
- Your team knows fields by name, and your agreements use parcel references.
- You have more than one agreement running at once.
- Pulling together evidence for a claim or check takes days.