Farmers and landowners claiming Single Farm Payment (SFP) must ensure that the land they put on the Single Application Form this year is eligible land area.

The number of claimants in 2013 who received penalties for claiming on ineligible features, such as dense unmanaged rush, scrub or unmanaged woody heather, is up 33% from previous years. There has also been a similar increase in the number of claimants who received no payment in 2013 at all.

The figures were revealed by DARD’s director of rural payments, Andrew Elliott, at a meeting with MLAs at Stormont. He warned that those who claim ineligible area might not get picked up now, but they will at some future date, when retrospective penalties will be applied back to 2013. “Farmers or their agents need to be active in checking that fields are entirely eligible,” he said.

He also updated MLAs on DARD’s plans to increase the number of land eligibility inspections done by remote sensing (using satellite images) in 2014. Up to 1,600 farmers across four different areas or zones will be inspected using the technology in 2014, compared with 1,139 in 2013.

The satellite images are currently being taken and will be checked by DARD staff later this year. In some, cases field visits will be required, which Elliott maintained will begin before the end of the year. DARD’s target is to pay 500 of these inspection cases in December.

For the 2013 scheme year, most farmers who were inspected using remote sensing waited until spring 2014 to receive their SFP.

Tenfold increase in SFP entitlement trading

A significant reduction in the number of Single Farm Payment (SFP) claimants in NI is expected in 2014 after DARD received over 11,000 notifications to trade SFP entitlements in recent weeks.

That compares with the 1,200 to 1,300 trades which have occurred in recent years, suggesting that a few thousand claimants will drop out this year. The final figure will not be known until all the transfers have been processed – some may have traded their entitlements to more than one farm business.

There is likely to be a further reduction in 2015, as some landowners have decided to claim this year, but will drop out next year unless they start actively farming.

Where a landowner has traded their entitlements, it is important that they do not claim SFP this year. Where a claim has been made, it should be withdrawn.

Growers highlight concerns on land availability

The Horticulture Forum in NI, which represents local vegetable and potato growers, has outlined “grave concerns” about the availability of land in 2015 when a new system of direct payments is set to be introduced.

Under current proposals, land declared in 2015 will form the basis for payment entitlements. But with the potato and vegetable sectors highly reliant on conacre, they are particularly vulnerable to landowners and farmers deciding to establish entitlements on their own land.

Get the SAF completed

Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill has again reminded farmers to get their Single Application Form (SAF) completed before the 15 May 2014, and to do it online.

To date, DARD has received 9,958 applications, with 4,994 being submitted online.