Deadline date for Basic Farm Payment Scheme looms

THE deadline date for 2020 Basic Farm Payment Scheme applications is fast approaching. As announced by the Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the deadline for this year’s applications is May 15.

The Department has put in place a range of supports to ensure that farmers are able to make their submission in time and all elements of their applications are to be completed online. Department officials last week confirmed that the international spread of the corona virus will not affect the submission date for the scheme as “any delay in inspections or change to the application date may lead to delays in payments later in the year, and we are anxious to avoid this at all costs”.

Farmers should note that whilst Teagasc are still operating, they are offering pre-arranged appointments only and they have confirmed that all appointments relating to the basic payments will be carried out over the phone.

The 2020 Basic Farm Payments are the last in the current CAP scheme of 2014 to 2020. The future of CAP faces uncertainty in the way in which it will be presented in that the Multi Financial Framework (MFF) for Europe has yet to be signed off and agreed upon. The MFF is the EU’S long term budget and it sets the limits for EU spending. This will need to be signed off on before the new CAP can be negotiated and finalised. The most recent draft proposals from the European Commission have recommended that the CAP budget would be decreased by 5%, which has been strongly objected to by Minister Michael Creed.

The last few weeks have served to again highlight the importance of the agricultural and food industry to Ireland and indeed the wider European Union and world. We need to acknowledge the important role that farmers play in our society and ensure that we do not see a cut to the necessary funding that is provided through CAP.