Scots and Welsh farmers paid SFP on Tuesday

The majority of farmers in Scotland and Wales are set to receive their Single Farm Payment on Tuesday (1 December).

About 75% of Scotland’s farmers will receive their share of £400m on Tuesday, the first day payments are permitted by European regulations.

In Wales, 82.5% of claimants will receive payments from a £205m pot.

The Scottish government has pledged that 90% of claims be paid by the end of the month.

James Withers, NFU Scotland chief executive, praised the government for its “excellent record” in paying claims promptly.

“This injection of funds into the country’s farm businesses is hugely important to rural communities as a whole and helps underpin the economic and environmental activity that farming generates,” he said.

Wales Rural Affairs minister Elin Jones said the high proportion of payments paid to farmers in the country was “a wonderful achievement” for the Welsh Rural Payments Agency.

“Civil servants rarely come in for praise but in this case the Rural Payment Service for Wales should be congratulated,” she said.

The impact on early SFP monies being received would be felt far beyond the farmgate, she added.

Like producers in England and Scotland, Wales’ SFP receipts have been bolstered by recent exchange rate movements that have added 11% to payments for farmers.