Almost 38,000 transfer of entitlements applications under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have been submitted.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue confirmed that 37,946 applications were made online to transfer payment entitlements by the deadline on Wednesday this week (June 14).
This figure is an increase of nearly 5,000 compared to the number of entitlement transfer applications made last year.
The minister said he was pleased that there were a large number of farmers making use of the facility to transfer unused payment entitlements to those who have a requirement for additional entitlements.
“I am particularly pleased that so many people took advantage of the temporary removal of the clawback on the sale of entitlements without land. We have seen an increase in sales from just over 1,300 in 2022 to just under 6,500 this year,” he commented.
“This will help to give stability and certainty to those who are actively farming,” Minister McConalogue added.
He said: “It is really positive that so many have applied before the deadline. This figure reflects the massive effort made by FAS (Farm Advisory System) advisors, and by my department, to assist farmers with their applications.
“Letter to those who have applied for a transfer will begin to issue from August,” the minister explained.
He advised farmers who have any outstanding documentation relating to a submitted transfer application to upload it to the agfood portal as soon as the document is available.
There is no need to wait for an insufficient documentation letter to be issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine before submitting documents.
The department said that it has dealt with over 10,500 transfer query calls between May 1 and June 14. There have also been a “substantial” number of email queries, as well as information sessions and clinics, and in-person callers.
The department said that applications will only be accepted now after the deadline with ‘force majeure’ evidence, i.e. extraordinary circumstances prevented the applications being made on time.