More than 20,000 farmers have yet to submit their nutrient management plans (NMPs) for GLAS, according to the Department of Agriculture. All 36,700 active GLAS I and GLAS II farmers are required to submit an NMP before their 15% GLAS balancing payment can be issued.

However, just 16,500 NMPs have been submitted to date, according to officials.

NMPs must be submitted online by each farmer’s agricultural adviser through a Teagasc-developed portal.

The portal, which was supposed to be up and running in 2016, was delayed until 23 May, at which point the Department called for all NMPs to be submitted by 15 June.

GLAS 15% balancing payments, for those who have submitted their NMP, are “scheduled to commence in the coming weeks”, according to Department officials.

Meanwhile, the slow grind continues for those farmers still waiting for 85% GLAS payments.

Approximately 1,000 GLAS farmers have been asked to provide additional information or outstanding documentation and officials say that payments are issuing on a weekly basis as cases are cleared.

To date, 2016 payments worth over €127.5m have been issued to over 96% of GLAS I and II participants due a payment in 2016.