• In 2023, RPA paid over £1.2 billion into farmers' bank accounts through the Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship schemes.
• Responding to farmers' concerns about cashflow, 2,200 rural businesses received accelerated SFI payments worth 25% of the annual value of their agreement.
• As of December 2023, 97% of farmers have received their balance Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payment.

Farmers and rural businesses across the country have been supported by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) across all its services in 2023 to run productive businesses, deliver sustainable food production and achieve positive environmental outcomes.

In 2023, the RPA paid out over 91,000 eligible claims under the Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship schemes, putting £1.2 billion into farmers' bank accounts. 

Farmers benefitted from an improved Countryside Stewardship scheme which saw them being paid even more for taking action to protect the environment, with an expanded range of options, an average increase of 10% in revenue payment rates, and an increase in most one-off capital payments for specific environmental actions.

Farmers with a live Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreement in place by the end of last year also received an accelerated payment worth 25% of the annual value of their agreement in the first month of their agreement in response to farmers’ concerns with cashflow. Just under 2,200 rural businesses received these accelerated payments by the end of 2023, a total of around £8 million. 

In addition, by the end of the year, over 97% of applicants received their balance BPS payment. Moving into 2024, the RPA will continue to help ensure a consistent cashflow to support agriculture businesses as BPS is replaced with delinked payments.

So far, the RPA has received over 9,000 applications for the latest round of SFI, with over 5,000 agreement offers accepted and started. SFI remains open for application and farmers are encouraged to apply on gov.uk.

Rural Payments Agency Chief Executive Paul Caldwell said: 

“Our farmers are the heartbeat of the nation’s rural economy, and the RPA has remained focussed on supporting them by processing applications quickly, improving cashflow through accelerated payments and making improvements to our application processes.  

“But our work does not stop here and, as we go into 2024, we want to build on what we have already achieved by continuing to work closely with farmers, understand their needs and encourage them to join our environmental land management schemes.” 

The RPA has made a number of improvements over the past year to help make the application process for schemes quicker and more straightforward for farmers, including launching a new service called ‘Rural Land Changes’ so farmers and land managers can update their maps digitally rather than via a paper RLE1 form. 

Other schemes, services, and improvements delivered by the RPA across 2023 include:

• A total of £22.8 million granted to agricultural businesses in 2023 through the Farming Investment Fund. As part of the fund, the agency invited applications for five themes including Calf Housing for Health and Welfare, Slurry Infrastructure, Adding Value, Water Management and Improving Farm Productivity. In addition, the Smaller Abattoir Fund opened in December and will run across 2024.
• Delivering £31.2 million in payments in 2023 under the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, which has provided investment towards specific items of equipment to improve productivity and slurry, as well as Animal Health and Welfare.
• Launching the eighth round of Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund in October 2023 to help farmers and land managers work together to amplify the environmental outcomes they are achieving. 
• Introducing a more supportive, partnership-based approach to farm visits, moving away from the penalty-based system under the EU to farmer-focused visits for schemes such as SFI and CS. As part of this approach, Field Officers will offer greater levels of advice, guidance, and signposting during these visits to help farmers get the most out of their agreements, improving compliance with standards and scheme requirements and achieving better outcomes.  

The agency also attended 48 national and regional shows and events supported by around 100 RPA staff ‘ambassadors’, built relationships with local groups and hosted 17 roundtables across England with Members of Parliament and their constituents. 

Further improvements to the Environmental Land Management schemes for 2024 were announced by Defra earlier this month Biggest upgrade to UK farming schemes introduced by the Government since leaving the EU - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).