Shropshire Star

Act fast to tap into cash help for small dairy farmers

Did you produce under one million litres of milk from April 2015 to March 2016? If so, you may be eligible for the Small Dairy Farmers Scheme, which opened for applications on April 24.

Published
Josie Nott

The scheme provides an opportunity for dairy farmers to benefit from £8.5 million which has been made available by the Government to support small dairy farmers in England.

Farmers can apply for this scheme if both the following apply:

• you had an annual cows’ milk production of up to and including one million litres (or equivalent in kilograms) during the period April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016

• you are still active in cows’ milk production.

To apply you must fill in a Small Dairy Farmers Scheme application form and send it to RPA by midnight on May 31.

Wholesale producers of cows’ milk are asked to provide the following information on the application:

• the total volume of cows’ milk delivered to first purchasers (in litres or kilograms) during the period April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016

• details of your purchaser(s) in April 2017.

You must send proof showing your total cows’ milk deliveries to first purchasers during the period April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016. Proof could be a copy of your annual production statement or individual monthly production statements.

Direct sellers of cows’ milk or milk products are asked to provide the total volume of cows’ milk (in litres or kilograms) produced during the period April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016, either for sale directly to the public or used to make products for sale directly to the public.

You must send proof of the figure you have sent to RPA for the volume of cows’ milk used for direct sales. Additional proof could be production records or sales invoices.

You must also send proof that you are still active in cows’ milk production in April 2017. Proof could be monthly milk statements, HM Revenue and Customs returns, stock records, sales invoices or evidence from the national milk recording system.

If you are a wholesale producer and a direct seller of cows’ milk, you will need to provide both sets of information and proofs.

Payments will be capped at 500,000 litres of cows’ milk production. The rate of payment will only be calculated once all applications are received. The figure should be published on GOV.UK in mid-June, 2017. The RPA will aim to make payments by the end of July 2017, directly to the bank account details the RPA holds.

Josie Nott is a rural chartered surveyor at Halls