Deluge of forms expected as one to one service continues and farmers move to avoid penalties

Just 44,000 SFP forms have been received by the Department of Agriculture at this stage. That's 40% less that the 77,000 received at the same stage last year. Despite the slow arrival of forms the Department is not considering extending the SFP deadline. They do have the option to move it back to 15 May but at this stage there is no pressure building on them to move it. They do expect a deluge of forms over the next week as farmers move to avoid penalties for late forms.

The numbers of farmers attending the ongoing one to one customer service being run by the Department around the country is growing. Farmers are delighted to have their problems dealt with specifically in private by staff that have a good working knowledge of the SFP system.

The complete range of queries from consolidation to transfers are being dealt with. Farmers that have still problems with their 2006 and 2005 SFP payments are using the opportunity to get their issues sorted out. The Department is also accepting completed SFP forms on the night and will issue receipts.

The 4 May deadline also remains in place for trading and consolidation forms. However, the Department has said they will accept these forms up to the 31 May 2007. Forms received after this will not be processed for the 2007 SFP scheme.

The Department has set up two specific help lines for after hours and over the weekend. They are opened from 6pm to 10pm every weekday an from 1pm to 6pm of Saturday and Sunday. The numbers are 1890 252242 and 1890 252236.