Basic Payment Facts – England 2021

Basic Payment Facts 2021 is our popular pocket sized summary of the main rules of the Basic Payments Scheme (BPS), designed to give useful guidance as we all prepare to submit this year’s BPS claim and to help you look further ahead to the future of farm funding.

After 47 years of EU membership and 28 years of area based subsidies under that regime, 2021 represents the first year of the phasing out of the Basic Payment Scheme and the introduction of a package of UK support measures. This will, undoubtedly, be the most significant change for farming businesses any of the current generation of farming leaders will have seen. It will present some very significant challenges to many businesses, particularly those that are heavily dependent on BPS to support profits. Nevertheless, there will also be plenty of opportunities for the best operators to grow their businesses.

Strutt & Parker and our national team of experienced farming consultants remain on hand to help our clients navigate their way through the challenges and opportunities so please do call for a discussion about your situation and potential business responses to improve resilience.

In the meantime, the deadline for submission of Basic Payment applications this year is Monday 17^th May and if you need any assistance with some of the technical detail, please do get in touch.