The deadline for completion of the carbon navigator has been extended to 30 November.

Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said the extension was granted “due to significant pressures on both farmers and advisers".

Creed urged the “remaining farmers that have not completed the navigator to immediately contact their adviser to arrange a meeting to complete same”.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has recently issued further reminders to all BDGP participants instructing them to complete their carbon navigator in order to facilitate both timely payment and the avoidance of penalties and Minister Creed is now happy that this one-month extension “will provide all participating farmers with the opportunity to ensure compliance with this element of the scheme and thereby facilitate payment later this year”.

Extension needed and sufficient

Laura Johnston, president of the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA), told the Irish Farmers Journal the extension was needed and seemed sufficient: "We would have had quite a few calls for it," she said.

On the one hand, farm planners have been facing issues with the online submission system: "In some cases when you log back in, the information has disappeared. We have had to revisit a number of files," said Johnston.

Some farmers had also left if to the last minute to contact their adviser and the extension will allow them to "do the work to a better standard," she added.

Thomas Hubert contributed reporting for this story.

Read more

4,500 farmers still to submit carbon navigator