Numerous questions continue to emerge about the opening date for this year’s Basic Payment Scheme application, with a particular focus from farmers with surplus entitlements over eligible hectares farmed.

The Department has told the Irish Farmers Journal that it hopes to have the online facility open and paper applications circulated to farmers in early to mid-March.

On clawback rules for 2017, which were 50% on sales of entitlements in 2016, the Department hopes to have this matter resolved shortly.

Last week’s information on the National Reserve and Young Farmers Scheme also raised some questions, two of which were answered by the Department as follows:

Q. Can you avail of the young farmer topup if you did not submit an entitlement in your name in 2015? Also, are you entitled to the topup for 2017-2019 if you submit entitlements in these years?

A. The Young Farmers Scheme will operate annually during the period 2015 to 2019. Farmers must apply for inclusion in the scheme in each year of eligibility. To be eligible for participation in the Young Farmers Scheme, an applicant must meet the following conditions:

  • They must be participating in the Basic Payment Scheme in the year of application to the Young Farmers Scheme;
  • They must be aged no more than 40 years of age at any time during the calendar year of first application under the Basic Payment Scheme;
  • They fulfil the criteria in respect of agricultural education;
  • They are setting up an agricultural holding or set up a holding for the first time in the five years preceding first submission of an application under the Basic Payment Scheme.

    • Applicants who fulfil this criteria qualify for an additional payment of €68.54 per activated entitlement, subject to a maximum of 50ha. Therefore, an applicant who fulfils the eligibility criteria but who activates no entitlements in the scheme year will not qualify for a payment under the Young Farmers Scheme, as they would not activate entitlements upon which the additional payment is made. If the applicant in this case satisfies the eligibility criteria and activates entitlements in 2017, they would be eligible to apply for payment under the 2017 Young Farmers Scheme and the same applies for the remaining years of the scheme to 2019.

    Online applications

    The Department is also continuing with its push to increase online applications. As per an EU ruling, 75% of applications must be completed online in 2017, rising to 100% in 2018. The 2017 target is already in hand if a repeat of the 100,000 applications completed online in 2016 is achieved, but a greater push will be required to hit the 2018 target.