England Natural England has received a number of requests for derogations due to the hot and dry weather, particularly to cut hay earlier than agreements allow due to early ripening. In situations where agreement holders are unable to meet the requirements of their agreement they can request a Derogation under Environmental Stewardship or a Minor […]
DEFRA has confirmed arrangements for those who are struggling to get their items delivered within the 150 day Countryside Productivity Small Grants Scheme deadline. For claimants experiencing these problems, it is possible to purchase the equipment, submit the claim within the 150 day deadline, but take delivery of the equipment after the 150 days and […]
Anyone who has struggled to submit their 2018 BPS forms over the past few weeks will not need reminding of the shortfalls of the Rural Payments Agency. However, the performance of the Agency has been criticised once again in a report from the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee of Parliament. The Committee found that […]
All those who applied under the first round of the Countryside Productivity Small Grants Scheme should now have been contacted by the RPA to say whether they have been successful or not. Those who have not received an e-mail should, firstly, check their junk mail folder and then contact the RPA. Those that have been […]
As the 2018 BPS ‘claim season’ is nearing its end, just a few reminders. The deadline for applications to be submitted, to avoid late application penalties, is midnight on May 15th. This includes applications and supporting evidence for the Young Farmer Payment and applications to the National Reserve. It is still possible to make a late […]
Those who grew sugar beet during 1999 and 2000 are due to receive a payment from the EU. This follows a ruling from the European Court of Justice that the EU overcharged growers when collecting a levy (which was discontinued from 2006). The total fund for the UK is estimated at around £6m which will […]
The 2018 BPS application window in England is now open. Guidance All the scheme guidance, forms and continuation booklets can be found on the dedicated BPS 2018 page on Gov.UK at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/bps-2018?dm_i=4G3E,75XJ,330Y6P,RWC4,1 this includes: Basic Payment Scheme : rules for 2018 BPS Key dates 2018 BPS Land use codes Greening workbook for 2018 Winter varieties […]
Countryside Stewardship Scheme Similar to last year, delays are expected in issuing Countryside Stewardship Agreements. Although the problem is not expected to affect as many potential agreement holders as the previous year, there are still going to be a significant number of Mid-tier Agreements due to commence on 1st January 2018 which will not have […]
The Welsh Government is making available £1,800 to each dairy farmer who collates and submits farm data for a benchmarking report. To qualify for the funding the data must be completed in a specific spreadsheet supplied by AHDB and returned by 30th June. The fund is available to dairy farmers in Wales who had a […]
BPS 2017 The Single Application Form (SAF) will be available to complete via RPW Online from 6th March 2017. Claimants can access RPW Online from the following link http://gov.wales/topics/environmentcountryside/farmingandcountryside/rpwonline/?lang=en. Guidance and further information will also be available from this web link from 6th March. The deadline for BPS application is 15th May this year. Similar to […]