Life after BPS

As we are currently amidst the time of year when BPS forms would usually be submitted, we thought it a poignant time to explain what is to happen to BPS in the coming years as we move to delinked payments.

There is no longer a BPS claim submission period (i.e. no forms to fill in for BPS this year and beyond!). Instead, ‘delinked payments’ will replace the usual Basic Payment Scheme. Payments will no longer be linked to land or entitlements.

The delinked payments have been calculated based on your BPS payments received in 2020, 2021 and 2022. You will continue to receive delinked payments through until 2027 regardless of any changes to land, or if you decide to stop farming. However, you must have claimed BPS in 2023 to receive the delinked payments

Hopefully, you should all now have received your delinked payment statement outlining the reference amount for the coming years. However, we would urge you to double check that the reference amounts are correct!

If you need to complete a transfer of all or part of your reference amount, this must be completed by 10 May 2024. If you think this may apply to you, or if you think your reference amounts don’t look correct, please get in touch and we can assist you.

Keeping Land Uses up to date!

Whilst there is no longer a requirement to record cropping through BPS, we strongly recommend that your land uses are kept up to date with the RPA. We don’t know what this information will be used for in future years, or future schemes, so keeping it up to date now may just avoid you kicking yourself further down the line!! With this in mind, if we have completed your BPS application in previous years we will be in touch with you in due course to confirm cropping for the current year. If we haven’t completed your BPS application in the past, but you would like assistance with keeping your cropping up to date, please get in touch.

Countryside Stewardship Revenue Claims

PLEASE NOTE… although there is no BPS claim period, you MUST still complete and submit your Countryside Stewardship (CS) Revenue Claim forms each year AND ensure that the land use recorded with the RPA matches the option on your claim. We will be in touch shortly if we are involved with your agreements and have submitted claims on your behalf historically.

Please feel free to get in touch if you have any queries.

2024 1st Cut Update

Although its been hit and miss, the return of the Sun has certainly helped to lift sugar levels in our fresh grass samples this week, although there is significant variation betweeen samples. Grass is growing fast, with GrassCheckGB reporting a growth rate of 46.5kg DM/ha/day for this week, which is ahead of the 3 year average of 42kg DM/ha/day for the same week in previous years.

Our target is to achieve over 3% sugar in the crop at ensiling which is why we show the sugar at 30% DM column.

Protein levels are running high so we would advise caution here. Ideally, the sugar in the DM then a protein of 18% or less will be safe, providing there is no soil contamination. Above this you may find that crops are more difficult to ensile with a risk they could compost in the clamp rather than ferment.

Nitrates are running fine on some samples (target < 1,000 mg/kg at cutting), but again there is significant variation, even between fields on the same farm.

Our advice this year is to cut as soon as ground conditions allow, and a good weather window to ensure you have a dry spell to enable a wilt to 30% DM, (24 hours if spread, 36 hrs if not).

However, given the wide variation in samples this year, we cannot stress enough the importance of testing your own crops before mowing.

If you are particularly concerned that ground conditions are wet and there is a risk of soil contamination in silage then it would be worth using a preservative type additive such as SafeSil. Silage compactors are great tools but beware of mulching the crop if it goes in very leafy as this will make the clamp face liable to slip forward when feeding out. Pay special attention to clamp edges and regular compaction of thin layers to reduce spoilage and improve fermentation.

Please get in touch with us if you wish to send in your own samples, or use existing sample bags if you have any, tick the pre-cut grass analysis box when filling in the information sheet.

1st Cut, Maize Planting & Feed Market Update

Given the apparent change in weather, we thought it would be sensible to provide our thoughts on 1st Cut and Maize planting.

1st CUT

There was some very welcome sunshine over the weekend, and whilst there is plenty of rain around again today, the longer-term forecast looks much improved, in terms of rainfall. However, there still seems to be plenty of cloud around in the next 10 days, so the prolonged spells of sunshine we need to really lift the sugars in the 1st cut don’t seem to be coming our way.

Ground conditions are still fairly wet, but should dry out relatively quickly over the next week or so. I wouldn’t be in any rush to get out there and take 1st cut this week – another week of even limited sunshine will improve the sugars and reduce the risk of soil contamination.

I appreciate some farms in a desperate situation with slurry stores and need to get slurry out urgently. If you are taking a cut of silage in the next week to allow you to get slurry out, I would strongly recommend a preservative type additive such as Safesil, especially where there is any concern of soil contamination.

Given the amount of poor quality forage around this year, I am sure everyone is very keen to ensure a high quality 1st cut is in the clamp! However, there is certainly a balance here this year and I would strongly recommend getting some of your own grass tested before pushing ahead with 1st cut. This will also provide a check for nitrate levels, which will be vital this year with late application of slurry and fertiliser on some farms. If you have any got the fertiliser on this week or last, it is important to remember the Nitrogen uptake will be around 2 units per day, so take this in to account when planning cutting dates, and make sure you get your grass tested.

We strong suggest getting some of your own grass tested before cutting – please contact us for some sample bags if you don’t have any.

MAIZE PLANTING

Given the extremely wet winter, it would seem very possible that a very dry summer is on the way. The Oak trees are out in leaf before the Ash… Oak before Ash, in for a splash. Ash before Oak, in for a soak. There is therefore an argument for getting maize in the ground early to ensure good germination. However, soil temperatures are still too low which will also impact germination. Hold off until soil temperatures are at least 12oc consistently for 3 days, and don’t plant before 20th April whilst there is still a risk of frost.

FEED MARKETS

Energies

Competitive black sea supplies of wheat have kept energy markets fairly subdued in recent weeks, despite a slight uplift seen from the lows back in February & March. The increases in price from the lows mentioned are a result of a tighter global balance to end the 2023-24 growing season, as well as very mixed global weather conditions which are likely to affect pricing for the new grain season. Maize markets are more likely to see price reductions in the coming months as good crop conditions and global stocks are forecast.

Proteins

Rapemeal is currently marketed at a premium compared to soya. This is partly due to lower global stocks of rapemeal, with market focus turning to Canadian plantings to gauge market direction. The issue of importing Soya into the UK from 1st Jan 2025 has also encouraged farmers to cover higher levels of rapemeal rather than soya.

Global soya stocks are well supplied from South America (although it is worth noting there is currently a lot of disagreement regarding year ending stocks) and attention will turn to US plantings and with a larger acreage expected, this is likely to further weigh on soya pricing.

Exchange rates have been largely flat from £/$. However, with both UK and US elections to come later this year, there is the potential for more volatility in currency markets which could influence raw material pricing.

Summary

Our advice is to cover everything for the Summer now, and cover at least 50% of the Winter.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries!