Rural Payments Agency confirms BPS 2018 rates
© Tim Scrivener The 2018 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) cash rates have been confirmed by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
The 2018 rate, including the greening element, will be:
- Non-SDA (severely disadvantaged areas) land: £231.7/ha (£93.77/acre)
- SDA land: £229.93/ha (£93.05/acre)
- Moorland: £62.70/ha (£25.37/acre)
The RPA published these values on Tuesday (6 November). The exchange rate for this year’s payments is €1 = £0.89281.
See also: Future of subsidies: Collaborate to cope with lower support
The payments are due to reach farmers’ accounts from 3 December.
Farmers in Northern Ireland have been receiving advance CAP payments since 16 October after receiving permission from the EU Commission.
Scottish and Welsh farmers have been able to apply for BPS loans through national support schemes, to help mitigate the effect of the year’s adverse weather conditions.
Under BPS, farmers need to hold an entitlement for every hectare of eligible land they are claiming on.
The size of farmers’ payments will depend on how many entitlements they use, supported by eligible land and the value of those entitlements.