Rural businesses receive £1.7bn of payments

The Rural Payments Agency has paid out just over 97,500 claims, totalling £1.725 billion for farmers in the first few days of the payment window, which runs between December and June.

The payments cover the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Countryside Stewardship (CS) revenue and Environmental Stewardship (ES) schemes. Eligible customers should expect to receive their full payment within the payment window that ends in June 2022.

As announced in the Agricultural Transition Plan, Direct Payments will gradually be reduced over a seven-year period, starting from this Basic Payment Scheme year. The biggest reductions will initially be made to the higher payment bands.

The money will be repurposed for schemes that incentivise sustainable farming alongside profitable food production – rewarding farmers for actions that improve air and water quality, and protect wildlife and soil health.

In order to ensure that farmers are adequately supported throughout this journey, the farming resilience programme will be available throughout the first three years of the agricultural transition period to help those most affected by the phasing out of Direct Payments. This will help farmers plan and manage their businesses through the transition to the new system.

Payments are made directly to bank accounts via BACS transfer so farmers should ensure that the RPA has the most up-to-date account details on the Rural Payments service.