Dairy farmer scheme may be a last chance to get EU money

For a grant being run by the Rural Payments Agency, it is great to see that the application is straightforward and farmer-friendly, and is a real opportunity to make the most of what could potentially be some of the last of European money aimed directly at dairy farmers.

For those who are unaware of the scheme, there are only two criteria.

1. Produce less than one million litres of milk in the April 2015 to April 2016 milk year

2. Still be a dairy farm in milk production

The payment rate is capped at 500,000 litres and will be paid directly into the applicant’s bank account in the way of a one-off top-up payment per litre. This payment will be calculated on the number of applicants for the scheme and will therefore be unknown until June.

The information to provide along with the application is your total cows’ milk deliveries for the period April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016. This can be in the form of your annual production statement or the monthly individual statements. I would also recommend sending in a more recent statement showing that you are still an active dairy farmer.

With May being a busy month for all farmers and their agents, especially with the various other Rural Payments Agency deadlines, including the basic payment scheme, entry and higher level stewardship schemes and countryside stewardship schemes' annual claims all being the May 15, it could be easily forgotten.

The form and further guidance can be found on the Gov.uk website (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/small-dairy-farmers-scheme)

Applications need to be submitted by midnight on May 31. Should you require any further information or guidance please do not hesitate in contacting our team at Madeleys Chartered Surveyors

Tom Bayliss is a rural surveyor at Madeleys