Close to 85% of Knowledge Transfer (KT) Programme participants have yet to complete their Farm Improvement Plans (FIPs) with the deadline fast approaching.

This is according to the latest figures released by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that just over 20,000 farmers were registered with the department under the KT Programme; it is hoped that 27,000 farmers will be trained by 2020.

Under the three-year programme, farmers will receive an annual payment of €750 – along with the costs to cover the facilitator/advisor, who runs the group meetings.

Originally, participants were required to have attended the required number of KT group meetings and to have their FIPs completed by May 31.

This deadline was extended by two months in mid-May. Participants now have until the end of this month – Monday, July 31 – to complete the required work.

As it stands, a total of 3,183 FIPs have been completed by participants, the department added. Another 8,006 are currently in progress.

This would leave approximately 8,000 KT participants who have yet to begin submitting their FIP.

Criticism has once again been aimed at the department’s own IT system, which reportedly has led to farmers and advisors running into issues when they have tried to submit the required paperwork.

The decision by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, to extend the KT deadline to July 31 was welcomed by Fianna Fail TD Charlie McConalogue.

Prior to that announcement, he said he had been “inundated with queries” from farmers who were fearful that they would miss out on funding, because they had been unable to complete their applications online.

Approximately half of the participants in the KT Programme are beef farmers; dairy and sheep farmers account for about 8,500 participants.