Farmers in Northern Ireland have less than a week to submit Single Applications without financial penalty.
The deadline for submission is midnight on Monday, May 16, to avoid any reduction or delay to payment.
Single Applications must be used to claim farm payments for any of the following schemes:
- Basic Payment Scheme (BPS);
- Young Farmers’ Payment (YFP);
- Regional Reserve Entitlement allocation or top up (as a Young Farmer or New Entrant);
- Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS);
- Farm Woodland Premium Scheme (FWPS);
- Farm Woodland Scheme (FWS);
- Forest Expansion Scheme (Annual Premia);
- Small Woodland Grant Scheme (SWGS);
- Protein Crops Scheme.
Already, over 15,669 farmers have submitted their Single Applications in 2022.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is urging the remaining farmers to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.
Those who have not yet done so can submit Single Applications via the DAERA Online Services portal and there is plentiful guidance on how to complete the application online too.
EFS Higher Tranche 6
Another approaching deadline is that of the sixth tranche of the Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS) Higher Level. Applications for this must be submitted by Friday, May 13.
EFS Higher Level provides participants with annual payments to help with bringing Northern Ireland's most important environmental sites under favourable management and is for land with environmental designations, such as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI), and other areas of priority habitat.
Interested parties can check if their land is eligible via the DAERA Online Services website.
