The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed that Cork was the county with the highest number of applications for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based schemes this year.
In total, 124,274 scheme applications were submitted from across the country by the deadline of Wednesday, May 15.
This figure includes 2,482 temporary reference number applications which are currently undergoing administrative checks by the department to determine eligibility.
BISS
The DAFM confirmed to Agriland that by the deadline it had received 12,344 applications on behalf of farmers in Co. Cork for BISS and other area-based schemes.
Galway was the county with the second-highest number of applications at 11,686, followed by Co. Mayo with 11,025.
The county with the lowest number of applications was Dublin with 605, followed by Louth with 1,459 and Carlow with 1,579.
The following table provides a county-by-county breakdown for the number of BISS and other area-based scheme applications made to DAFM by May 15:
County Total applications Carlow 1,579 Cavan 4,745 Clare 5,921 Cork 12,344 Donegal 8,807 Dublin 605 Galway 11,686 Kerry 7,558 Kildare 2,021 Kilkenny 3,171 Laois 2,757 Leitrim 3,386 Limerick 4,902 Longford 2,344 Louth 1,459 Mayo 11,025 Meath 3,682 Monaghan 4,102 Offaly 2,820 Roscommon 5,528 Sligo 3,841 Tipperary 6,426 Waterford 2,276 Westmeath 2,932 Wexford 3,813 Wicklow 2,062 Temporary reference numbers 2,482 Total 124,274
Meanwhile, around 120,000 applications were submitted for Complementary Redistribution Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS).
This measure is designed to redistribute Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funds from larger farms to medium and smaller sized farms.
The department received 120,461 applications from farmers wanting to participate in the Eco Scheme in 2024.
6,471 applications were made under the Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers (CIS-YF), 1,663 for Protein Aid and 979 for the National Reserve.
The department noted that the figures are subject to change as late applications are received, temporary reference numbers are resolved and other processing takes place to determine eligibility.
DAFM
Where farmers have made their BISS and other area based schemes application, but now wish to make an amendment, they may make such changes online at www.agfood.ie until midnight on Friday, May 31, without any penalty.
If a change made to a BISS online application leads to a farmer having insufficient land to use all of their entitlements, they will have the opportunity to submit a Transfer of Entitlements application up until midnight on May 31, 2024.
This is only available to farmers who can show that they have made a change to their BISS application by May 31, 2024 and that change has directly led to the need to transfer entitlements.
The department has reminded farmers that scheme applications will be accepted after the May 15 closing date, however a 1% per day penalty will be applied in these instances.
The deadline for the submission of late applications (with a penalty) is June 9, 2024.
DAFM has also said that it will begin to issue notifications to farmers as a result of satellite farm inspections from next month.
As part of the new CAP, the Area Monitoring System (AMS) is mandatory across all EU member states to monitor compliance with farm scheme criteria.
It uses satellite data, gathered automatically every five days, to observe and assess agricultural activities and practices.
The AMS also uses photographs containing GPS locations produced using the AgriSnap, developed by DAFM, to verify declared crops.