Farmers reveal personal stories of BPS anguish

Farmers and landowners have revealed some of their personal stories of the damaging effect delays in subsidy payments have had on their families and businesses.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) still needs to process several thousand payments for 2016 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claims.

This is despite the payment window having opened on 1 December and the 2017 scheme having already opened for applications in England on 1 March.

See also: Tips on how to apply for BPS 2017

On top of the BPS delays, many unpaid farmers are still waiting to discover if their Countryside Stewardship scheme applications have been accepted.

Graham Kerslake farms 730ha in the Exeter and Crediton areas and has not received his 2016 BPS payment and about £3,000 of his 2015 claim is outstanding.

He also applied to Natural England for entry into its 2017 Countryside Stewardship scheme – and is still awaiting confirmation.

Poor communication

His agent, Lewis Butlin from Agrogate Professional Farm Services, said there had been no major changes to Mr Kerslake’s mapping/land area since 2015. But he understands the payments are delayed because the farm underwent a remote-sensing inspection.

“We have not had a proper explanation, apart from an RPA automated response which said they were dealing with 2016 claims first and would deal with 2015 errors in due course.”

Cambridgeshire young farmers Tom and Rebecca Noble are also awaiting full payment for their 2016 BPS claim and some of their 2015 claim at Westmoor Farm, Chatteris.

They learned on Friday (3 March) their farm was under cloud cover when the RPA carried out remote-sensing checks for BPS.

Cashflow problems

The couple have a young family and they recently purchased 100 elements of entitlements to cover the county council holding he took on in 2013.

The BPS payment delays are causing financial issues, said 34-year-old Mr Noble. “Surely the RPA should prioritise paying young farmers on tenanted land like myself who are clearly struggling?”

North Bedfordshire farmer Freya Morgan has not received her 2016 BPS payment. The RPA carried out an inspection of 810ha Park Farm, Keysoe, Bedford, after harvest last year.

“The inspector wanted to verify our EFAs [ecological focus areas] were as shown on the map. We put in way over what was needed – 8% on fields of winter beans and fallow,” said Ms Morgan.

“He didn’t get out the car and was happy with what he had seen. We have had no further communication from the RPA apart from two standard letters sent earlier this year. We cannot understand why our payment is late. All our neighbours appear to be in the same boat.”

Payment delays a ‘disgrace’

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said it was a “disgrace” that farmers were still waiting for cash they had been owed for so long. “The RPA must urgently sort out all outstanding payments and make sure next year’s system gets payments out on time,” he added.

The RPA said more than 96% of farmers in England had received their 2016 BPS payment.

An RPA spokesman added: “We understand how important these payments are to farmers and remain focused on paying the remainder of eligible claims.

“We have communicated directly with those farmers waiting to be paid and any eligible farmer who has not received their full payment by the end of March will be offered a bridging payment for 75% of their estimated claim value.”