EU support payments to help hard-pressed UK dairy farmers manage cash flow problems will start arriving in bank accounts from Monday – two weeks ahead of schedule, Farming Minister George Eustice has announced.
 
The farming minister said the first payments have been made to over 10,000 farmers across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (amounting to over £19 million, and accounting for three-quarters of all eligible farmers).

Payments will continue through November and December, for those who have yet to receive their pay-out from the total EU allocation of £26.6m. The UK gained the third largest support pot of any member state in the Commission’s aid package, which was unveiled in September following protests, in a bid to mitigate against volatile prices and the effect of the Russian trade embargo.
 
RPA will pay farmers based on a flat rate, linked to milk production (this amounts to around 0.176p per litre in England, Scotland and Wales, and 0.226ppl in Northern Ireland, where milk prices have been lower).

Announcing the early payments, UK Farming Minister George Eustice said, “It’s been a tough year for dairy farmers grappling with low prices for the milk they produce. We fought for, and secured, one of the largest support packages amongst EU countries and the RPA has pulled out all the stops to start making these important payments two weeks earlier than planned. I hope these payments will now provide some much needed relief for dairy farmers across the UK.”
 
Any dairy farmer in England who receives a letter from  the RPA and is asked to register on the Rural Payments system or to provide up to date bank account details, is urged to call the RPA’s helpline on 03000 200 301 as soon as possible. Farmers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland who are not registered will be added to the Rural Payments system using information provided by the devolved administrations.
 
Meanwhile, the RPA said it is on track to make full payments on Basic Payment Scheme 2015 claims as soon as possible within the payment window, making the majority of payments in December and the vast majority by the end of January.