The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has confirmed that 95.3% of farmers have received full payments in the first few days of the payment window.
This means that £872m has been released to build on the earlier payments which farmers received in July and August.
Over 102,000 payments have been made, bringing the total paid to farmers to £1.528bn, across the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Environmental Stewardship (ES) schemes.
Eligible farmers should expect to receive their payment within the payment window which opened on 1 December and ends on 30 June 2023.
As announced in May 2022, farmers claiming direct payments have received two separate payments this year, with the first made from the end of July 2022 and completed by August 2022.
This was in response to the cost pressures faced by farmers caused by global gas prices rising and the Ukraine invasion, and to boost cash flow for many businesses during this uncertain period.
RPA chief executive Paul Caldwell said: "This has been a year of unprecedented challenges for our farmers and rural businesses, which is why the RPA has been working hard to make payments as quickly as possible – both in July and in the current payment window.
"We know how important these payments are to farmers and the wider economy, so will continue to work hard to process any remaining claims as quickly as possible."
Meanwhile, Welsh farms will receive a share of £62.5 million as BPS 2022 full or balance payments are made tomorrow (9 December).
Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths said payments are being made to over 14,400 farm businesses across Wales, which is 90% of claimants.
This is in addition to the £161m BPS advance payments made to 97% of claimants in October.
Rural Affairs Minister, Lesley Griffiths said: “We are living in challenging economic times and these payments provide some financial certainty to farm businesses.
“I want to thank both the sector and RPW who have once again worked closely to deliver the excellent number of BPS payments.
“The work continues to ensure remaining outstanding BPS 2022 claims are processed as soon as possible. I expect all but the most complex cases to be completed by the end of June 2023.”
