Pressure had been growing on the Department to extend the GLAS II deadline past the original deadline of 7 December to due to reports of technical difficulties with the Department's online planning system. This left planners struggling to cope with the volume of applications. Therefore the Department decided to extend the application deadline by a week to 14 December.

Some 14,000 applications have been made to the second tranche of the Green Low-carbon Agri Environment Scheme (GLAS II). About 35% of those applicants have been tier three farmers.

Tier three is the lowest priority level of the scheme and includes farmers who take general actions to enhance the climate change, water quality and biodiversity benefits of their farm. These farmers would not have been guaranteed access to GLAS I, which opened for applications on 23 February 2015 and closed on 26 May 2015. Farmers who fulfil tier one requirements (which include working on private Natura sites, farms with farmland birds such as breeding waders and commonages) would have been given priority access to GLAS I.

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Almost 27,000 farmers applied for GLAS I by the May closing date.

Additional reporting by Odile Evans

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Farm payments glossary: GLAS