By Wednesday morning, over 113,000 applications were received by the Department. Based on previous years, there should be no real issues. However, the Department has decided to open helplines and also the Portlaoise offices until midnight on Friday 29 May. The helplines for the key schemes are listed in Table 1. If posting forms today, you must register or send by express post to record, as proof of postage is not admissible any more.

The Department has made paper applications available for Scottish derogation and also young farmer top-up where the young farmer has not yet signed up online.

The Department has also activated the online system to allow new entrants who have applied for a herd number, but not yet received it, to apply for their BPS.

The majority of these 3,500 farmers can apply online or on paper. However, farmers who have arable land that will be affected by greening, organic farmers or partnerships must apply online.