Written by JohnSwire
Farmers in England now have the information they need to calculate the value of their 2018 Basic Payment Scheme claim, enabling them to check the accuracy of their payments which are due to start arriving next month.
The Rural Payments Agency has published details of the value in Euros of each entitlement, including the greening payment. It had previously confirmed that the Sterling value of payments will be worked out using the exchange rate of €1 = 0.89281, the rate set as the average exchange rate over the month of September.
Charles Garrard, farming consultant in the Chelmsford office of Strutt & Parker, says: “The pieces of the jigsaw have now come together to enable farmers to predict what their gross payment should be for 2018, assuming they have no reductions. For example, the value of non-SDA entitlements, including the greening element, can now be calculated as £231.70/ha (£93.77/acre), which is 73p/ha more than in 2017.
“However, farmers should remember that financial discipline will be applied to all larger claims, which will cut payments by 1.411917% in 2018, with only the first €2,000 of the BPS payment exempt from this reduction. Claimants should also be aware of reductions to payment claims of over €150,000, for which any payments over this amount are reduced by 5%. Our understanding is that payments will start to arrive in farmers’ bank accounts on Monday 3 December, so now is a good opportunity to run the figures so any discrepancies can quickly be picked up.”
Mr Garrard is also reminding farmers to be extra vigilant at this time of the year as fraudsters are well aware of the timing of BPS payments, so it is important to be wary of any unexpected calls or emails from people claiming to be the bank or police.
The 2018 rates are as follows:
Type of entitlement Entitlement value Greening rates Total (Entitlement value + greening) Value in £/ha
Non-SDA €181.39 €78.13 €259.52 £231.70
SDA €180 €77.53 €257.53 £229.93
Moorland €49.09 €21.14 €70.23 £62.70
Strutt & Parker has a BPS calculator which automatically calculates the value of 2018 BPS payments, including reductions for financial discipline measures. Contact [email protected] if you would like to run your own figures.
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