BPS deadline imminent with thousands left to apply
© Thodonal/Adobe Stock Farmers and land managers have just one week left to complete Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) applications before the deadline of midnight on 15 May.
Thousands of farm businesses in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are still to finish applications despite the impending deadline.
The Rural Payments Agency is opening its BPS hotline at weekends from 8:30am until 5pm in the run-up to the deadline and can be contacted on 03000 200 301.
See also: BPS claims: Hints and tips for 2023
Late applications can still be submitted until 9 June, but a penalty will be incurred.
The 2023 scheme year will be the final one for BPS in England, before it is replaced with delinked payments from 2024 onwards.
Entitlements will end alongside the BPS scheme year and the deadline for transfers is also 15 May.
More than 15,000 farm businesses had submitted their applications in Northern Ireland as of 2 May, but a further 9,500 applications still need to be submitted, according to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
Lump Sum Exit Scheme
The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has urged farmers that have applied for the Lump Sum Exit Scheme to also ensure they submit their BPS claims on time.
The TFA said this was to make sure that, in cases where the terms of the lump sum scheme cannot be met by the 31 May 2024 deadline, a valid BPS claim has still been submitted.