Disadvantaged area payments will start to flow next week, the Department has confirmed. It is hoping that more than the €120,000m to 60,000 farmers that was paid out in the week of the Ploughing last year will go out.

This would provide a much-needed boost to cashflow, especially for beef and sheep farmers.

The 50% advance payment of the Single Farm Payment (SFP) is due out on 16 October.

However, over 10,000 farmers will not be paid DAS next week, as they have not met the stocking rate criteria of the scheme.

Farmers have to have held stock for seven consecutive months and have enough stock to give them an average of 0.15LU/ha over the year.

The Department will continue to pay out DAS payments once cases have been cleared. Department officials will also be on hand at the National Ploughing Championships in Laois to look at individual farmer’s cases, not just on DAS, but also on the impact of CAP reforms.

Farmers can bring the hectares they farmed in 2013 and the value of entitlements they owed this year to identify the impact on their SFP up to 2019.

Tilllage farmers will also be able to identify their specific requirements for crop diversification and ecological focus areas at the Department stand.

Close to 75% of 16,000 entitlement transfers applications have been processed by the Department at this stage.

The Department says payments will not be held up by transfer applications, but the biggest issue is where farmers have not replied to requests for additional information.