Applicants urged to submit their SAF online and on time

With the application window opening today for the annual support claim, the Single Application Form (SAF), farmers have been urged to submit them online and on time.

And the Scottish Government yesterday said that while paper forms would still be accepted, they would not be sent out unless applicants had contacted SGRPID, making clear that they still chose to apply that way.

“I would encourage everyone who wishes to do so to submit their Single Application Form online as soon as possible and not wait until the last moment,” said rural economy secretary, Fergus Ewing, speaking yesterday.

“Although we will still accept paper applications, the online system is specifically designed to simplify the process by automatically checking applications for errors – reducing the risk of financial penalties”.

Last year more than three quarters of applications were made on-line and Ewing said that technical help and support was being offered to those wishing to make the switch to on-line applications.

NFU Scotland president, Andrew Mccornick said that SAF was the most important form-filling exercise of the year:

“And I would like to encourage all of our members to complete their forms as soon as possible.”

Also advising use, where possible, of the on-line system, Mccornick said that this process conducted checks as the forms were being filled in, allowing unintentional errors to be flagged up.

“It’s worth the effort and you will get an acknowledgement of receipt at the time of submission,” he said. l Figures released by the Scottish Government yesterday showed that Scottish food and drink exports had grown by more than half a million pounds in 2017 to a new record value of £6 billion.

However Scottish rural economy secretary, Fergus Ewing said that the statistics highlighted the importance of the single market – with the EU accounting for more than more than 40 per cent of this value.