Over 95% of Basic Payments 2018 paid to farm businesses in Wales

This means over £213m has been paid into bank accounts of more than 14,700 Welsh farm businesses during the first week.

In response to the exceptionally hot and dry weather during the summer, the Cabinet Secretary introduced a BPS loan scheme to help farm businesses manage their cash flow and plan their finances, whilst their BPS claims were being processed.

The BPS loan, which closed for applications on 30 November, has seen an additional £23.1m paid to over 1,200 farm businesses this year.

Rural Payments Wales has also received cross border data from their counterparts in England, allowing the Welsh Government to process 2018 BPS claims to over 75% of Welsh cross border farms.

The BPS 2018 payment window opened on 3 December, and will run until 30 June 2019.

Cabinet Secretary said:  “I am pleased to confirm over 95% of farm businesses have been paid either their BPS payments or loan applications during the first payment week. 

“The BPS loan, which I introduced in response to the hot and dry summer, has provided certainty to farmers whilst their BPS claims were processed and helped 1,200 farm businesses manage their cash flow and plan their finances. 

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone, including the industry, who have worked with my officials to introduce the BPS loan scheme and contributed to an excellent payment performance once again this year.

“This year, we have also seen a significant improvement with cross border farm payments compared to previous years.  My officials are continuing to press the Rural Payments Agency in England for the remaining data and are working hard on processing the remaining BPS claims as soon as possible.

“I expect all but the most complex cases to be completed before the payment window closes next June.”