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Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has said that 129,000 farmers applied online for their 2018 BPS in advance of the 15 May deadline. This figure is in line with application numbers for previous years, he added.
Just under 8,000 applications came in the final 24-hour rush before Wednesday's midnight cut-off.
In addition, the Department received over 21,140 transfer of entitlement applications before the deadline.
31 May deadline for amendments
It is still possible to make changes to completed BPS applications until the end of this month without incurring a penalty. If this change means a farmer has insufficient land to use all of their entitlements, they can also submit an application for a transfer of entitlements by 31 May.
Farmers who missed the deadline can still lodge a BPS application until 9 June, but they will lose 1% of their payment.
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