Online portals essential to complete farmers’ Knowledge Transfer (KT) applications are finally up and running, less than four weeks away from the scheme deadline.

KT group facilitators could not upload farm improvement plans for their farmer group members up to last Saturday, while vets were unable to process herd health plans online until last Friday.

However, the online systems got off to a shaky start, with some agricultural consultants reporting that the system failed within hours of being set up.

Despite receiving notification from the Department of Agriculture that the farm improvement plan portal was available on Saturday morning, some facilitators could not access the system until lunchtime on Monday.

Pressure is on

The pressure is now on group facilitators to complete the online applications for farmers in the tight two-week window between the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) deadline of 15 May and the KT deadline of 31 May.

The online application for livestock farmers consists of a breeding plan, grassland management plan, farm safety plan, profit monitor and herd health plan.

Teagasc has now joined the Agricultural Consultants Association in calling for an extension to the 31 May deadline.

The Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) has already made three formal written requests to the Department of Agriculture to extend the closing date. There has been no indication to date that this will happen.

“Consultants will have only 15 days to do the KT applications, because we must concentrate on BPS first,” ACA president Laura Johnston told the Irish Farmers Journal. “BPS is farmers’ money for the year.”

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