Farmers in NI received higher direct payments in 2024-2025 than in the previous year, with the average up nearly £200 to a total of £12,869.61.

The data, which has been published on a UK government website, shows payments made in the period from 16 October 2024 to 15 October 2025, so includes the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) money paid out to most farmers in September 2024.

There was also a BPS supplementary payment made in September 2025, as well as the money paid out in March 2025 once numbers were finalised for the first year of the Beef Carbon Reduction (BCR) scheme. Similar data for England, Wales and Scotland has not been published by DEFRA this year.

Total pot

The higher average in NI is due to a slightly greater total payment pot of £305.966m compared to £303.122m and also slightly fewer claimants, with 23,788 receiving direct payments in 2024-2025, compared to 23,911 in the previous year.

As can be seen in Table 1, the top of the NI list is now dominated by beef finishers thanks to the BCR scheme. Of the top 10, there are eight farm businesses with BCR payments of over £120,000 and five with payments of over £187,000.

That payment started out in January 2025 at £20 per head, before increasing to £40 in February, £60 in March and £75 per head thereafter. At the top end, the figures suggest these businesses are finishing close to 3,000 head of prime cattle per year.

Outlier

There is one outlier in the top 10 list, with Lough Erne Investments Ltd, a company owned by Fermanagh businessman Charles Crawford, placed third despite receiving a BCR payment of just £32,020.

The data shows his company received a BPS payment of £274,275 – well beyond the cap on this area-based payment of £190,000. The reason for the discrepancy is presumably due to a disputed claim from a previous year which has been paid out alongside his 2024-2025 money.

To fund the BCR scheme, all BPS claimants had their payments cut by 9% in 2024-2025 and this has resulted in a partial redistribution of the direct payment pot towards larger claimants.

There are now 133 farm businesses with total direct payments of over £100,000 and 816 with payments over £50,000, compared to 114 and 760 respectively in the previous years’ data.

In the current payment window, which includes the new Farm Sustainability Payment paid out last September, a further 6.5% was removed off entitlement values to help fund a new suckler cow scheme. The first payments under that scheme are due to be made this summer.

Large landowners and other farmers who have concentrated on taking a lot of conacre in hill areas, have traditionally dominated the top of the direct payments list in NI.

Since 2021, area based payments have been capped at £190,000 and in last year’s analysis there were seven businesses at this limit.

With 9% taken off all payment entitlements, there is now just one business (Blakiston Houston Estate Co) with a £190,000 payment, although there are still six other farm businesses with a BPS of over £180,000.

Looking ahead, these businesses face a significant cut in income, with DAERA rolling out a new progressive cap to this year’s Farm Sustainability Payment (FSP), starting at £60,000.

In 2026, it effectively means this payment is limited to £153,000, dropping to £116,000 in 2027 and beyond.