As you may already be aware a ‘dairy response fund’ is being introduced which will allow dairy farmers across England who have lost 25% or more of their April 2020 average price paid per litre, compared to February 2020, being able to claim through the RPA for a grant.
This is a single grant payment and anyone eligible is entitled to up to £10,000 to cover up to 70% of your lost income from April and May.
The idea behind the scheme is to ensure farmers can continue to operate and sustain production capacity without impacting on animal welfare and, equally importantly, covers the financial effects recently faced from the knock-on effects on the supply chain from coronavirus.
The RPA will be issuing guidance in the coming weeks on how you can make an application.
The application process will open on 18 June 2020 and the grant payments will then be paid to farmers from 6 July 2020 onwards.
It has been suggested that to prepare for a claim you may want to document details of your milk statements for the months February, April and May 2020 to see if you are eligible.
If you would like to read more around the scheme please see the link from the government website below;
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-funding-to-support-dairy-farmers-through-coronavirus
If we can be of any support to you, please do not hesitate to contact me or another member of the team.
Hannah Bain – Associate Director
Head of Agricultural team
