New figures released today show that BPS payments worth £1.76 billion were made by 29 February - reaching 99 percent of eligible farmers.
This is an improved position on last year, with 1.4% more paid by the end of February 2020 compared with the end of February 2019.
By the end of February, over £150 million was paid out to farmers who do work through Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Environmental Stewardship (ES) – more than two and a half times the value in the previous year.
Final full payments for stewardship schemes have started to arrive four months earlier than last year, with farmers receiving one full revenue payment for the first time as part of a wider improvement plan by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) to deliver a better service.
Over three quarters (77%) of eligible farmers and land managers have received their full ES claim, worth a total of £133 million.
Just over one third (37%) of eligible CS customers have been paid their full claim, compared with 19.5% customers who had been paid 75% of their claim this time last year.
Farmers and land managers should expect to receive their full payments by the end of the payment window in June 2020, the RPA said.
"We fully understand how important it is to farmers and land managers that they receive prompt payments in full," RPA Chief Executive, Paul Caldwell said.
“That is why as part of our continuous work to improve these schemes, we are making CS and ES payments to farmers in full this year, meaning more farmers receive their total payment earlier in the window.
“We are working tirelessly to ensure remaining payments are made as quickly as possible."
The application window for this year’s CS scheme is currently open and farmers with an ES or CS agreement expiring this year can sign up now for a new agreement to start in 2021.
