NFU pushes RPA for single farm payments in England

NFU president Peter Kendall has met junior farm minister Jane Kennedy to push for speedy delivery of 2008 single farm payments to England’s farmers.

Farmer frustration is growing with the Rural Payments Agency, given that the bulk of producers in Scotland and Wales have already received a payment.

The agency is currently testing its payments systems – which has resulted in some people getting their money – but to date it has been unable to confirm when a full payment run might start.

The meeting, which took place on Wednesday (10 Dec), was also attended by other industry stakeholders.

Mr Kendall stressed the embarrassing gap between England’s performance and that of Wales, Scotland and other European countries.

RPA chief executive Tony Cooper, also at the meeting, re-iterated the RPA was on target to pay out at least 75% of the pot by the end of January.

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