Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed confirmed at yesterday’s tillage forum that 70% of a farmer’s Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) will be paid on 17 October.

In the region of 130,700 applications were submitted before the 16 May closing date, of which over 100,000 were made online.

Total payments made under the 70% advance payment, the recent Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) payment, GLAS and AEOS is expected to total over €1.5bn.

The Department of Agriculture explains that a drive to encourage more farmers online is paying dividends in identifying errors earlier, allowing applications to be cleared for payment faster.

Maximising the number of applications online is also tying in with EU regulations requiring 75% of all application to be submitted online by 2017 and 100% to be submitted online by 2018, with Ireland currently on target to achieve this.

ANC stocking queries

There has been a number of queries from farmers with waterlogged lands about the earliest date they can sell cattle and meet ANC stocking rates.

Under the terms of the scheme, farmers must maintain a minimum stocking rate over the calendar year of 0.15LU/ha. A secondary requirement is that a minimum stocking rate of 0.15LU/ha must be maintained for a seven-month consecutive retention period. Table 1 outlines livestock unit values for applicants to assess their own situation.