The Department will accept 2017 instead of 2014 as the reference year for the number of animals in a herd in certain limited circumstances. In a recent letter to participating farmers, these include:

  • New entrants or young farmers. These may not have started farming in 2014, or have a very different number of animals this year.
  • Applicants affected by force majeure circumstances in 2014.
  • Farmers who would otherwise be excluded from the programme on the basis that they had substantially reduced the size of their herds since 2014.
  • The opportunity to change the reference year is available only to participants in the second phase of the scheme.