Three weeks left for farmers to submit CS revenue claims

Farm businesses have just three weeks left to submit revenue claims for Countryside Stewardship or Environmental Stewardship schemes to the Rural Payments Agency.

The deadline for submission closes at midnight on 15 May, after which point reductions may be applied to the claim amount.

Submissions made between 16 May and 31 May will incur a 5% reduction, increasing to 10% for claims submitted between 1 June and 30 June.

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Claims submitted between 1 July and 1 September will face a 25% reduction, while no payments will be made by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) for claims received after 1 September.

Paper claim forms should have been posted out to agreement holders by now, according to the Tenant Farmers Association, and it advises farmers to contact the RPA if they are still yet to receive one.

Countryside Stewardship agreement holders are able to submit an automated revenue claim without needing to complete each section of the claim form, if there have been no changes to the claims from last year.

However, agreement holders will need to inform the RPA of any changes to agreements, including rotational options.

A Defra blog advises farmers to ensure they have updated the relevant land use codes required before submitting a claim to avoid future delays processing payments.

Further information on how to submit a claim can be found online on the Defra website.