The total represents 68% of eligible claimants by number and accounts for £822m of the £1.68 billion fund.
The payments include a range of 2016 BPS claim types and sizes, including young farmers, those inspected and farmers with common land. The agency said it remained focused on meeting its target of paying 90% of eligible claims by the end of December.
NFU Vice President Guy Smith said: “Although the figure of 68% of claimants paid is encouraging we are mindful it is only 50% of the money to be paid out. This suggests to us that in terms of NFU members the number paid is going to be much closer to 50% than 68%.
“Hopefully we will see a similar release of payments this week which will mean thousands more members being paid. It would seem the RPA are on track to pay 90% of claimants by the end of the month but it may well be that this amounts to less than 80% of members who will have been paid.”
“Our concerns remain for those who will still be unpaid by the New Year. We are calling for those so identified, especially cross border and commoners, to be paid a bridging payment if there is no guarantee they will be paid in January. What accentuates the need for this is the fact many commoners are still waiting for full payment from 2015.”