Just over 121,000 farmers have received their BPS from 2015 and only 53% of young farmers have been paid. Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney told the Irish Farmers Journal that the Department will double up from one to two rounds of payments each week to get the remaining money out in the next two to three weeks.

Similarly, in England and Wales there is £1bn left to be paid out to 44,000 farmers. The English Rural Payments Agency (RPA) confirmed last week that 51% of its 87,095 claimants had received £425m in total by 4 January.

Historically speaking, Irish farmers would usually have both their first and second installments in their bank accounts at this stage. The lack of information or forewarning from the Department is driving many farmers to despair.

Bryan Daniels, Kilmaganny, Co Kilkenny, bought out his brother Phillip’s share of their farm partnership in early summer 2015. He has yet to receive his BPS for 2015, which is leading to cashflow problems in the lead-up to spring calving.

“Philip had some land in his name so we are now leasing that and we bought the entitlements,” Bryan said. “We got a letter in early August saying a transfer of entitlements form needed an extra signature. We did that and sent it back three days later.”

In the second week of October Bryan had a cross-compliance inspection which he thought might delay payment. But after passing that, he heard nothing by the end of October. He then decided to try contact the Department.

“When my adviser called, he was told that if they didn’t have to answer calls they would be able to process payments quicker,” said Bryan. “Just talking to people around my local area, it seems to be the progressive young farmers who are renting land that haven’t been paid.”

Bryan is in the process of building works that need to be completed before calving but “the machines are parked up and two of the sheds have no floors in them yet”.

Karen Ashton and her husband John Halls moved over from England in 2013. They have organic Dexter cattle and Ryeland sheep on their farm in Drumlish, Co Longford. They applied for both the BPS and organic scheme payments for the first time in 2015. Again, the problem they seem to have is associated with a transfer of entitlements form.

In March 2014 they bought the entitlements to their land from the previous owner and received confirmation of transfer seven months later. While they received their ANC payment in September 2015, nothing has arrived since then.

“I spent two weeks on the phone in December trying to find out what was wrong,” Ashton said. “Eventually I was told that there was a query on our transfer of entitlements form and I had to contact the entitlements office. Every time I called I was told that I was in a queue and then the machine would tell you that they couldn’t handle the calls and to try again later.”