A late rush of applications of Single Application Forms (SAF) is expected over the coming days.

A DAERA spokesperson said on Wednesday that 19,499 applications had been received so far. With 25,000 expected, that leaves 5,500 forms still to be submitted by the deadline of midnight 15 May. This deadline will not be extended in NI.

Applications received between 16 May and 9 June will see payments reduced by 1% per working day. No application will be accepted on or after 10 June except in cases of exceptional circumstances.

Online

Efforts by DAERA to get farmers submitting SAF online this year appear to have worked. Overall, 19,379 online applications were received by Wednesday, meaning that only 120 paper applications have been submitted so far.

DAERA Direct offices will not open over the weekend, but operating hours on the SAF helpline have been extended to between 9am and 3pm on Saturday and Sunday. It is available at 0300 200 7848.