As outlined in the map below, the farming behemoth that is Cork leads the way with 13,234 applications under the 2017 BPS. After Cork comes Galway with 12,399 applications, Mayo with 11,872, while Donegal has 8914 applications and Kerry, rounding off the top five, has 7,993 applications.

Unsurprisingly, Dublin had the smallest number of BPS applications with 663. Ahead of Dublin but in the bottom five are Louth (1,547) and Carlow (1,648). Although a strong farming county, Kildare is fourth-last with 2,164 applications with Wicklow slightly ahead of Kildare on 2,215.

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Early checks

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture has confirmed that preliminary checks on farmers’ BPS applications have commenced. This this is to ensure that farmers are not fined for overclaims, dual claims, and overlaps.

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