More than 76,500 claims (88%) for Basic Payment Scheme 2015 have now been completed by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
But nearly 10,000 farmers are still awaiting their payments, for a variety of reasons.
Remaining claims to be finalised include:
• Around 5,400 farmers that were inspected. The 2015 scheme required RPA to carry out more, and different, inspections because of the new greening requirements. This included new items for inspection such as Ecological Focus Areas. These claims are now being processed.
• Around 3,500 claims from landowners with rights to common land. These claims have taken longer due to the new approach this year which distributes money only between those who use the common, rather than allocating a proportion based on everyone who has a registered right. This approach will mean many commoners can expect a bigger payment, but it is more complicated to get these payments right as all claims on the common have to be checked first. This issue will be much reduced in 2016.
• Around 1,000 claims in the final stages of completion.
Mark Grimshaw, chief executive of the RPA, said: "We understand the importance of these payments to farmers and the Agency is working round the clock to get the remaining payments checked and paid to farmers.
"We are now processing some of the most complex cases such as those on common land, which we have always said would take longer to get right.
"I have every sympathy for farmers who have not been paid. For those customers experiencing real difficulty, we have established a hardship fund which can be accessed to provide some immediate relief.
"I want to re-assure the industry we are handling many issues that are specifically related to year one of the new scheme - and 2016 will be different."
TFA Chief Executive George Dunn commented on the subject of BPS payments: "The Tenant Farmers Association has been in a close working relationship with the RPA both in its attempts to fulfil payments against 2015 BPS claims and to achieve a successful completion of the 2016 BPS claims’ campaign, by the deadline of 16 May.
"Yesterday (13 April) there was a meeting of the RPA’s Technical Stakeholder Group to which the TFA took a long list of issues which needed to be resolved to allow BPS claims to be submitted for this year.
"Other organisations had equally long lists. Although some progress was made, there are a significant number of issues which remain outstanding.
"With a month to the deadline the TFA viewed yesterday's meeting as an important line in the sand.
"With a major mountain to climb and little confidence that there is the joint capacity to fulfil a successful 2016 campaign by the May 16 deadline, the TFA has written to DEFRA Minister of State for Farming, Food and the Marine Environment, George Eustice MP, to request formally that DEFRA applies to the European Commission for an extension to the 2016 deadline at least until the middle of June.
"Without such an extension both the RPA and BPS applicants will be placed under intolerable stress."
The RPA says it is working 'seven days a week' to make the remaining payments to farmers as soon as possible.
Some farmers have been complaining their payment is lower than expected. The RPA says there may be reasons the payment seems lower than expected – for example entitlement values and the exchange rate are lower this year.
The RPA confirms the payments made are based on the entitlements and eligible land data held on the Rural Payments service, which is designed to minimise the risk of over-payments.
This means there may be payment differences between this control data and 2015 claims.
The RPA says it will investigate these differences over the summer, and urges farmers and agents to focus on applying for 2016 by the 16 May deadline.
With four weeks to go to the 2016 deadline, all farmers are now urged to make sure they submit their 2016 application as soon as possible.
