At-a glance-guide: Basic Payment Facts 2019 (England)
The 2019 Basic Payment Scheme application window opened on 13 March and runs, as usual, until 15 May.
The 2019 Basic Payment Scheme application window opened on 13 March and runs, as usual, until 15 May.
Our quick-reference Basic Payment Facts 2019 guide is an overview of the main rules on BPS eligibility, minimum claim sizes, crop diversification and greening, along with a helpful diary of important dates.
The rules are broadly the same in 2019 as they were last year, which does offer farmers a level of continuity.
However, claimants will need to take care to avoid tripping up on tighter double-funding rules, designed to avoid growers getting paid twice for carrying out the same activity on the same land parcel.
It used to be the case that some Countryside Stewardship Scheme options could be claimed as an Ecological Focus Area (EFA) and the payments would be adjusted accordingly to avoid double-funding.
But from 2019 this has changed so you can no longer overlap 19 CSS options with what is claimed as an EFA. Farmers who have accepted an offer to renew their HLS agreement in 2019 will also no longer be able to overlap ELS/ HLS options with EFA. For further detail, read our thoughts on how to avoid EFA pitfalls.
Download our Basic Payments Leaflet, an overview of the 2019 Basic Payment Scheme here, and for more detailed guidance on any aspect of the Basic Payment Scheme, contact a member of the Farming Department.
