A last-minute rush saw 18,100 farmers submit some or all of their Knowledge Transfer (KT) Scheme data to the Department of Agriculture by the midnight deadline on Wednesday last week.

Payment of up to €13.8m to farmers and up to €9.2m to group facilitators will be issued by the end of October.

Around 17,700 complete farm improvement plans were lodged by the deadline of midnight on Wednesday 22 August. A further 400 farm improvement plans were partially completed on the KT system by group facilitators.

Approximately 15,900 animal health measures were completed by KT-approved vets on behalf of farmers in livestock groups, while 20 were only partially completed.

“In some cases, the farm improvement plan elements are submitted or completed, but the animal health measure elements are not, and vice versa,” a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Based on those figures, 9.5% of the original 20,000 farmers who signed up to the scheme did not finish year one.

The Department has said that where farmers’ applications are not complete, they may receive only some of their €750 payment, based on their level of completion. Group facilitators will also be subject to partial payment in the case of incomplete plans.

However, farmers who did not complete the full farm improvement plan in year one can still move forward to year two of the scheme.

Meanwhile, Teagasc has issued further demands to some of its KT group members for a second Teagasc membership. The bills, which now amount to €290 for some farmers, are being actively disputed.

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