N.Ireland
Those interested in sitting on Northern Ireland's new Independent Panel must submit an application by this Friday, March 4.
Agri-Business
The Department of Agriculture has yet to decide whether it will appeal a recent High Court judgement which saw a farmer awarded over €100,000 in lost Single Farm Payment.
Despite the introduction of the new Basic Payment Scheme last year the Department of Agriculture is again obliged to publish the details of farmers and other organisations EU payments in 2015.
To date, some 10,932 appeals from farmers have been received by the Department of Agriculture of which 9,927 applications are finalised
Opinion
The publication of farm payments to farmers across Europe, including Ireland last Saturday, caused a storm in a teacup from various farming organisations.
Farm payments made to farmers in Ireland have been published by the Department of Agriculture
Over 7,000 farmers had penalties imposed on their Single Farm Payments in 2014 due to over-claims, latest figures from the Department of Agriculture shows.
Only 2% of 2014 Single Farm Payment penalty appeals were fully successful last year, according to figures released by the Department of Agriculture.
Single Farm Payments and Disadvantage Area Scheme payments of almost 10,000 farmers were hit by penalties last year, according to latest figures from the Department of Agriculture.
The application period closing dates for the new Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 CAP support schemes should be put back by at least two months
ICSA is indicating that the option of stacking entitlements on owned land will, in many cases, save farmers money, even if convergence comes into play.
The Department of Agriculture have taken the decision to publish details of 130,000 farmers and rural enterprises €1.8bn in EU direct payments.
Following the difficult year experienced by farmers across all sectors in 2014, the SFP continues to play a vital role for the Northern Ireland farming industry.
Numbers seeking Pillar 1 support may fall by almost a third in Northern Ireland in 2015
The Minister for Agriculture has said that over 7,000 farmers are still awaiting payments of €40m from the Department of Agriculture.
Agri Politics
The Department of Agriculture is now putting procedures in place to re-imburse farmers €27.1 million in CAP monies early 2015.
To date, some 10,728 appeals farmers have appealed land eligibility fines from their Single Farm Payments according to the Department of Agriculture.
The Department of Agriculture has confirmed that the balancing payments under the 2014 Single Farm Payment scheme will commence on target on December 1.
In 2015, all farmers will be strongly urged to ensure that all of the land that they declare for the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme is eligible and is farmed by them according to Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan has confirmed that a compensation package has been agreed for the Baltic States, in the wake of Russia’s EU food import ban, that will not impact on the next year’s Single Farm Payment Budget
It is not possible to spread farming payments to farmers over 12 monthly payments in order to provide some income certainty according to Simon Coveney.
Machinery
Stuck for a machine to draw a few bales this year? Well John Deere might just have the solution for you with its new 600hp 9RT Series tractor costing a cool €457,718.
It is totally unacceptable that payments to farmers under the Single Farm Payment advance and the Areas of Natural Constraint are being held up because they have been subject to a Department of Agriculture satellite inspection or on-farm inspection
