Over 25,000 Nutrient Management Plans (NMPs) have been submitted under the Green, Low-Carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS).
A total of 25,362 NMPs were submitted by the end of August, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine confirmed to AgriLand.
The department has reminded GLAS I and GLAS II participants that their NMP must be submitted by their advisor before further payments can be issued.
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2/2 GLAS I and II applicants are reminded that their NMP must be submitted by their Advisor before further payments can issue pic.twitter.com/Ar6WgxaDvh
— Dept Agriculture IRL (@agriculture_ie) September 1, 2017
Last week, the department revealed that close to €3.2 million in GLAS payments were issued to farmers during the eighth month of this year.
The most recent run of payments would bring the total amount paid out to farmers under the scheme to date to €144 million, in respect of 2016 actions.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, explained that the department will continue to make balancing payments to eligible participants on a weekly basis.
Speaking last week, Minister Creed said: “4,000 farmers received their balancing payment in the last two weeks as a direct result of submitting their Farm Nutrient Management Plan (NMP).
Further GLAS payments to GLAS I and GLAS II participants can only be made when their plan has been submitted and I would encourage all GLAS participants to work with their advisor and have this plan submitted as soon as possible.
He also outlined that there are less than 950 GLAS participants who must submit outstanding documentation or other information to the department, if their 2016 payment is to be processed.
Applicants are encouraged to respond to the department as quickly as possible in order to try and advance their payment.
Meanwhile, the department also issued payments to farmers under TAMS II (the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme II) at an average rate of over €1 million/week in August. TAMS II payments equalled €5 million in August, Minister Creed confirmed.