Farmers in Northern Ireland can expect BPS money to hit bank accounts from Thursday, 6 December after £85m (€96.5m) was issued under the scheme.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) announced on day one of the December payment window that full or balance payments have issued to 97% of farm businesses.

This makes Northern Ireland the highest performing region across all of the UK.

DAERA’s director of area-based schemes Dr Jason Foy said: “The Department is acutely aware of the importance of timely direct payments to farmers and making a full or balance payment to 97% of farm businesses, totalling £85 million, on day one of the December payment window is an excellent achievement.”

Payments will continue to farmers on a daily basis throughout December.