Farmers have received £1.6bn worth of BPS payments in the first two weeks of the payment window, it has been confirmed.
The latest figures from the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) show that 92.4% of payments were made by end of Friday 13 December, worth £1.6bn.
This builds on the 59,600 farmers who received payments totalling £1.2bn on 2 December, the first day of the payment window.
Additionally, those who claimed in 2019 on their Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Environmental Stewardship (ES) agreements will receive one full payment this year.
This is part of a wider improvement plan by the RPA to deliver a better service to farmers and land managers.
It means that ES and CS final payments have started to arrive with customers four months earlier than last year, with £77.8m ES and £4.3m CS payments made so far. E
The agency says eligible customers should expect to receive their payment within the payment window which runs between December 2019 and June 2020.
RPA chief executive, Paul Caldwell, said his agency is 'committed' to ensuring timely payments to farmers and land managers.
“We remain focussed on continuously improving the delivery and performance of BPS, CS and ES schemes, and this year CS and ES customers will receive their one full payment against their annual claim,” he said.
Payments are made direct to bank accounts via BACS transfer. Farmers have been urged to make sure the RPA has the most up-to-date account details on the Rural Payments service.
Claimants are also urged by the RPA to remain vigilant against fraud.
