RPA reminder on fifth check date for EPS

BEEF PRODUCERS across the UK should note that the fifth check date for the Extensification Payment Scheme is Sept 12, says the Rural Payments Agency.

The RPA will write to producers in January asking them to declare the number of cattle from six months old that were on their holdings on the final three check dates for the 2004 scheme year.

final date

The sixth and final date will be announced in January; the fourth check date was Aug 9.

Extensification payments are worth €40 a head (£28) for stocking densities of 1.4-1.8 livestock units a hectare, and double that amount for less than 1.4LU/ha, less 3.5% modulation.

But animals under the beef special premium scheme could have payments scaled back further as numbers slaughtered look likely to breach the national limit.