A rapid reduction in delinked payments
The draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2025 were published on the 17 February 2025 and confirm the steep reduction in delinked payments which many farmers will have been dreading.
The transition to delinked payments in England
Before the United Kingdom left the EU, England operated under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Under this policy, farmers meeting certain conditions were entitled to an annual payment based on the amount of land they farmed under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). However, since leaving the EU, the legal framework set out in the Agricultural Act 2020 took over and seeks to phase out these payments over a seven-year period, known as the ‘agricultural transition’. The agricultural transition runs from 2021 to 2027. From 2028, no payments will be made to farmers.
Since 2024, the BPS has been replaced by delinked payments. Delinked payments have resulted in direct support no longer being made under BPS. The Rural Payments Agency is responsible for making the delinked payments every year until the end of the agricultural transition. Unlike the BPS payments, delinked payments are based on the average BPS payment received by the farmer between 2020 and 2022, as opposed to the amount of land they farm. This gives farmers more flexibility over their land since it is no longer a factor in their payment eligibility.
Annual reductions in delinked payments
Despite the further flexibility granted to farmers, it is important to note that the delinked payments are reduced each year. The draft regulations published this week show the greatest reduction yet to be imposed on the 2025 payments. Specifically, the first £30,000 of the payment will be reduced by 76%, and any portion of the payment over £30,000 will be reduced by 100%. To give an example, if a farmer’s delinked payment was for £40,000, the first £30,000 of this would be reduced to £7,200 (the 76% reduction), and the remaining £10,000 would be wiped out completely (the 100% reduction). The highest possible payment a farmer could receive in 2025 is therefore £7,200.
This sharp increase in reductions suggest we will see a rapid reduction to delinked payments for the remainder of the agricultural transition. Given that 42% of farms were unprofitable without their BPS payment (according to DEFRA), it’s safe to say that many farmers will feel the effect of the declining support. Nevertheless, DEFRA have advised that the money recovered from reductions will be used to increase the money available in other environmental land management schemes, and so, for many farmers, it may be time to start looking into alternative support schemes.
Calculating your delinked payments
To assist farmers in understanding these reductions, DEFRA have provided a calculator to show how much your delinked payment will be. This can be found on their website.