Over £1.57bn worth of BPS payments have been paid out so far to farmers in England, accounting for 93.4% of eligible recipients.
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has confirmed the progress, saying it is the best performance in the first month of the payment window since the scheme started in 2015.
Payments during December were made to 78,787 of eligible claimants and were worth more than £1.57bn in total.
RPA Chief Executive, Paul Caldwell said: “We have increased efforts to pay more people as early as possible and RPA teams have now landed more than £1.5 billion into farmers’ bank accounts.
“We know there is more to do and that some farmers are still waiting for payments. We have written to everyone we were not able to pay in December and will continue to keep people up-to-date.”
The RPA said it is on track to complete payments 'significantly ahead' of the June 2019 deadline. Those claimants who have not been paid by the end of March will receive a bridging payment worth 75% of the value of their claim.
CLA President Tim Breitmeyer welcomed the announcement, but warned that delayed BPS payments and continued delay on stewardship payments are causing concerns to many farmers.
He said: “This is welcome progress but those still awaiting payment are experiencing pressure on the business, and in many cases significant stress and worry.
“The rural economy is already facing an uncertain future in the lead up to Brexit and beyond so delayed BPS payments, alongside these other delays to agri-environment scheme payments are compounding and causing a real dent.
“We have previously called on the Treasury to make early and timely bridging payments and are disappointed these are not forthcoming. They should be made a planned feature of the administrative process for the remainder of BPS, and we will continue to press for them in order to put an end to the annual cycle of uncertainty on this issue,” Mr Breitmeyer said.
