When most farmers think about scheme evidence, they think about inspections. Something that might happen, requiring records you need to keep just in case. Capital Grants do not work like that.
Every time you claim against a Capital Grant item, you are required to submit supporting evidence to the Rural Payments Agency as part of that claim. Before and after photographs, invoices, receipts, delivery notes. This is not optional and it is not conditional on being selected for an inspection. It applies to every claim, on every item, for every farm.
For farmers managing one agreement, that is manageable but time-consuming. For agents handling Capital Grant claims across multiple holdings, it is one of the most labour-intensive parts of the job, and most of that time is not spent on the evidence itself. It is spent on renaming files.
The naming convention problem
The RPA requires evidence files to be submitted following a specific naming convention. The format has to be right, the item reference has to be correct, and files have to be organised in a way the RPA can follow. An agent submitting a claim for ten capital items across three holdings is not just gathering photographs and invoices. They are manually renaming hundreds of files, building folders, and cross-checking every reference against the original agreement before they can submit anything.
That process takes hours. It is done manually every time. And a single mislabelled file can cause delays or a failed submission.
This is where JustFarm's Capital Grants feature makes the biggest practical difference.
What JustFarm does
Upload your Capital Grants or CS agreement PDF and JustFarm reads it automatically, extracting the capital items, parcels, payment rates and conditions without manual data entry. Each item is tracked individually, with its own evidence store, its own deadline tracking, and its own claim history.
When it is time to submit a claim, you select the item and export. JustFarm packages exactly the evidence files associated with that item, renames them to the correct RPA naming convention automatically, and produces an export that can be submitted directly without any additional formatting or renaming on your part.
What takes an agent two hours now takes two minutes.
Tracking what has been claimed and what has not
Capital Grant agreements often contain multiple items, and not all of them are claimed at the same time. Some work is completed early in the agreement period. Some is carried out later. It is entirely possible to partially claim an item and return to claim the remainder, and it is equally possible to lose track of where you are across a complex agreement.
JustFarm tracks the claim progress for each individual capital item. You can see at a glance what has been fully claimed, what has been partially claimed, and what is still outstanding. For agents managing agreements across multiple holdings, that single view is the difference between being in control and relying on spreadsheets and memory.
| What JustFarm tracks | Why it matters for claims |
|---|---|
| Claim progress per capital item | Know exactly what has and has not been submitted |
| Complete-by deadlines | Works must be finished before this date or the item is lost |
| Claim-by deadlines | Separate from completion — missing the claim window forfeits payment |
| Evidence stored against each item | Photos, invoices and receipts attached at the point of doing the work |
| RPA-formatted export | Files renamed to correct naming convention automatically on export |
Complete-by and claim-by deadlines are not the same thing
This catches farms out more often than it should. The complete-by date is the deadline by which the physical works must be finished. The claim-by date is when the payment claim must be submitted to the RPA. These dates are different, and missing either one has consequences.
Completing works on time but missing the claim window means forfeiting the payment entirely. Starting the claim process before the works are genuinely complete creates a different set of problems. JustFarm tracks both dates separately and surfaces them clearly, so neither deadline gets missed in the noise of managing everything else.
Built for agents managing multiple agreements
Capital Grants tend to sit in the background of an agent's workflow until a claim is due. Then they create a concentrated, time-pressured burst of admin: gathering evidence, cross-referencing items, renaming files, building the submission, checking it twice before sending.
JustFarm is designed to absorb that workload. Evidence is captured and stored against the right item from the point the works are done, not assembled retrospectively the night before the claim deadline. When the claim window opens, the export is ready.
For agents with multiple clients holding Capital Grant items, that translates directly into time saved on every single submission — and a claim record that is accurate, consistent, and ready if the RPA ever asks questions.
Getting started
If you manage Capital Grant agreements and are currently renaming files manually before each claim, create a free JustFarm account and upload your agreement. The system extracts your items automatically and you can start attaching evidence and tracking claim progress straight away.
If you are an agent managing multiple holdings, view pricing to see how JustFarm works across a client portfolio.
