On the week hill farmers are receiving their Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme (LFASS) payments, Farmers Journal Scotland has discovered their Basic Area Payments (BPS) are in line for a significant increase.

Following the Department’s full revalidation of all BPS claims, they have re-valued entitlements for 2019.

Region two ground will rise from €26.9/ha to €36.16/ha, region three will increase from €8.69/ha to €10.48/ha, and region one from €161.14/ha to €165.63/ha, all excluding the greening payment.

The 34% rise in region two payment and 20% rise in region three comes at the same time as all entitlements finish the internal convergence, meaning all entitlements are paid the same within regions.

Revalidation

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Following recent updates and improvements to the land parcel identification system, RPID has carried out a full revalidation of all claims in the system. The effect of this has provided the opportunity to revise payment rates in line with existing regional budgets, now based on more accurate claim areas and updated eligibility data within the system.”

Some 5,532 farmers have received payment for their LFASS claim this week, with the rest of the 11,000 eligible farmers receiving their payments in the coming weeks.