A last-minute rush saw 23,554 or in excess of 18% of the 128,712 Basic Income Support for Sustainability applications submitted in the final six days of the application window.
The application figure includes 2,885 Temporary Reference Number applications, which cover cases such as a new entrant applying who has not yet received their herd number, for example.
This leaves 125,827 standard scheme applications submitted. Within this the Department of Agriculture reports that there were 124,664 applications to BISS and the Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) while 121,603 applicants opted to participate in the eco scheme.
This represents a participation rate of over 96%, which is significantly higher than the initial estimates of 85% participation when the draft CAP Strategic Plan was initially released. The high participation rate has been underpinned by in the region of 93% of applicants being eligible for payment under Agricultural Practice 1; Space for Nature.
The payment rate of €77/ha initially outlined will now likely reduce to in the region of €63/ha to €64/ha, with Department estimates working off a payment rate of €65/ha to €66/ha at a participation rate of 95%. In commenting on the high participation rate, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said: “This demonstrates farmers’ willingness to undertake actions that are beneficial for the climate and the environment.”
Late applications
There is a 25-day period after the 29 May closing date where late applications and any necessary documentation can be submitted. These applications will be subject to penalties at a rate of 1% per day in respect of late BISS applications so the sooner applications are submitted the better. The terms and conditions also state that “the same rate of reduction will apply to eco scheme, CRISS, Complementary Income Suffort for Young Farmers, Protein Aid, ANC, ACRES, SIM and SCEP. Payment under any of these schemes cannot be made in 2023 unless a valid 2023 BISS application is submitted.”
Applications submitted on Thursday 1 June, for example, will be subject to a 3% payment penalty while applications submitted on the final 25th calendar period date of Friday 23 June will be subject to a payment penalty of 18%. Applications submitted from Saturday 19 June onwards will be subject to a 100% penalty and only late applications due to exceptional circumstances/force majeure will be accepted after this date and subject to payment penalty.
The final push to get such a large number of applications submitted and the fact that farmers and advisers were dealing with a number of new schemes and new application process means there is likely to be more activity in amending applications in 2023.
Amendments may be made through the agfood.ie portal until 11.59pm on Tuesday 14 June 2023 without any penalty occurring.
Late amendments with additional parcels/plots or amended claimed areas will be accepted online up to and including 23 June 2023 with a penalty.
Reduction
Payment on the parcel(s) concerned will be reduced by 1% for each working day in this period that the amendment is late.
There are other instances where a late amendment can be made without penalty.
An applicant may withdraw land, reduce the claimed area of a parcel or change use from eligible to ineligible from your application without penalty at any time after 14 June 2023 provided:
The Department has not notified you about any issues concerning your 2023 BISS application. You have not been notified of an on-the-spot inspection. An on-the-spot inspection does not reveal any non-compliances for the parcel(s) concerned.You have not been either fully or partially paid under the BISS in respect of 2023.An applicant may also correct obvious/innocent errors at any time after 14 June. You may also change a declared crop use, with or without Area Monitoring Scheme (AMS) notification up to midnight on 2 October 2023.
The Department’s statement earlier this week also wished to remind farmers and advisers that the deadline for the transfer of payment entitlements has been extended until midnight on 14 June 2023.
The extension applies solely to the transfer of entitlements and is not applicable to any other scheme.
This extension applies to the transfer of Payment Entitlements only.
The Department also issued correspondence to Farm Advisory System (FAS) advisers explaining that the online transfer application system will not be amended to reflect the change in closing date for the transfer of entitlements.
As such, applicants will see a pop-up during the application process advising them of a late transfer application for any applications made up to 14 June.
This will not affect the processing of these applications and the Department advises that there is no need to upload additional force majeure documentation to support it. A dedicated email address is available for dealing with queries:
transferofentitlements@agriculture.gov.ie.
Dedicated effort
Minister for Agriculture McConalogue heralded the ‘massive effort’ by Farm Advisory Scheme (FAS) advisers and his Department: “My Department held 10 information sessions and 25 one-to-one clinics around the country. I am very pleased that over 3,200 farmers were assisted at these events and at the public office in Portlaoise. My Department made over 1,500 calls to farmers and over 23,200 calls were answered by the direct payments helpdesk during the application window.”
A last-minute rush saw 23,554 or in excess of 18% of the 128,712 Basic Income Support for Sustainability applications submitted in the final six days of the application window.
The application figure includes 2,885 Temporary Reference Number applications, which cover cases such as a new entrant applying who has not yet received their herd number, for example.
This leaves 125,827 standard scheme applications submitted. Within this the Department of Agriculture reports that there were 124,664 applications to BISS and the Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) while 121,603 applicants opted to participate in the eco scheme.
This represents a participation rate of over 96%, which is significantly higher than the initial estimates of 85% participation when the draft CAP Strategic Plan was initially released. The high participation rate has been underpinned by in the region of 93% of applicants being eligible for payment under Agricultural Practice 1; Space for Nature.
The payment rate of €77/ha initially outlined will now likely reduce to in the region of €63/ha to €64/ha, with Department estimates working off a payment rate of €65/ha to €66/ha at a participation rate of 95%. In commenting on the high participation rate, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said: “This demonstrates farmers’ willingness to undertake actions that are beneficial for the climate and the environment.”
Late applications
There is a 25-day period after the 29 May closing date where late applications and any necessary documentation can be submitted. These applications will be subject to penalties at a rate of 1% per day in respect of late BISS applications so the sooner applications are submitted the better. The terms and conditions also state that “the same rate of reduction will apply to eco scheme, CRISS, Complementary Income Suffort for Young Farmers, Protein Aid, ANC, ACRES, SIM and SCEP. Payment under any of these schemes cannot be made in 2023 unless a valid 2023 BISS application is submitted.”
Applications submitted on Thursday 1 June, for example, will be subject to a 3% payment penalty while applications submitted on the final 25th calendar period date of Friday 23 June will be subject to a payment penalty of 18%. Applications submitted from Saturday 19 June onwards will be subject to a 100% penalty and only late applications due to exceptional circumstances/force majeure will be accepted after this date and subject to payment penalty.
The final push to get such a large number of applications submitted and the fact that farmers and advisers were dealing with a number of new schemes and new application process means there is likely to be more activity in amending applications in 2023.
Amendments may be made through the agfood.ie portal until 11.59pm on Tuesday 14 June 2023 without any penalty occurring.
Late amendments with additional parcels/plots or amended claimed areas will be accepted online up to and including 23 June 2023 with a penalty.
Reduction
Payment on the parcel(s) concerned will be reduced by 1% for each working day in this period that the amendment is late.
There are other instances where a late amendment can be made without penalty.
An applicant may withdraw land, reduce the claimed area of a parcel or change use from eligible to ineligible from your application without penalty at any time after 14 June 2023 provided:
The Department has not notified you about any issues concerning your 2023 BISS application. You have not been notified of an on-the-spot inspection. An on-the-spot inspection does not reveal any non-compliances for the parcel(s) concerned.You have not been either fully or partially paid under the BISS in respect of 2023.An applicant may also correct obvious/innocent errors at any time after 14 June. You may also change a declared crop use, with or without Area Monitoring Scheme (AMS) notification up to midnight on 2 October 2023.
The Department’s statement earlier this week also wished to remind farmers and advisers that the deadline for the transfer of payment entitlements has been extended until midnight on 14 June 2023.
The extension applies solely to the transfer of entitlements and is not applicable to any other scheme.
This extension applies to the transfer of Payment Entitlements only.
The Department also issued correspondence to Farm Advisory System (FAS) advisers explaining that the online transfer application system will not be amended to reflect the change in closing date for the transfer of entitlements.
As such, applicants will see a pop-up during the application process advising them of a late transfer application for any applications made up to 14 June.
This will not affect the processing of these applications and the Department advises that there is no need to upload additional force majeure documentation to support it. A dedicated email address is available for dealing with queries:
transferofentitlements@agriculture.gov.ie.
Dedicated effort
Minister for Agriculture McConalogue heralded the ‘massive effort’ by Farm Advisory Scheme (FAS) advisers and his Department: “My Department held 10 information sessions and 25 one-to-one clinics around the country. I am very pleased that over 3,200 farmers were assisted at these events and at the public office in Portlaoise. My Department made over 1,500 calls to farmers and over 23,200 calls were answered by the direct payments helpdesk during the application window.”
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