The NFU has called for 'immediate' bridging payments to be provided to more than 5,000 farmers who have yet to receive their BPS payments for 2018.
The call follows the Rural Payments Agency's (RPA) release of BPS 2018 payment figures which show that 93.4% of eligible claims were paid in December.
Over £1.57bn worth of payments have been paid out to 78,787 of eligible claimants in England.
The NFU said that while this is an improvement from 2017 figures, the government must do more to make bridging payments available to those who do not receive their payment on time.
NFU Vice President, Stuart Roberts said: “The delivery of BPS is clearly improving, especially considering the challenges in 2018 of updated mapping and greening rule changes, but it is by no means in perfect working order.
“Over 5,000 farmers and growers are still waiting for payments through no fault of their own and may not receive a penny for months.”
He said timely payments are 'crucial' for farm businesses to be able to manage their cash flow, especially after last year’s extreme weather which put extra pressure on businesses.
“For those who have yet to be paid, the government must provide immediate bridging payments to ease this pressure and we are disappointed that such financial assistance may not be provided until April,” Mr Roberts added.
“With regards to other BPS payment activity, we are pleased to see eligible commoners finally receiving their retrospective adjustment payments for the BPS years 2015-2017, but are still hearing reports of farmers waiting for other claim issues to be resolved that date back as far as 2015. We must see these fully resolved before the 2019 application window opens in March.”
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, the agency said.
