Local election candidate Bert Galbraith, has urged farmers in the Stranorlar Electoral Area to seek assistance with their Single Farm Payment application, to ensure their applications are correct and they maximize their entitlements.
Bert Galbraith
The Fine Gael candidate who is a beef and sheep farmer, said he is aware from personal experience and from speaking to other farmers, that they often lose sleep worrying about such form-filling and deadlines.
“Spring time on the farm is a very busy time with sheep lambing, cows calving, slurry and fertiliser applications. Tillage farmers are getting land ready for sowing spring crops and planting potatoes. Farmers make do with very little sleep at this time of the year but we get great satisfaction from our work.
“However, I know from personal experience and talking to other farmers that sleep is also lost worrying about all the administration associated with farming and the fear of farm inspections and penalties.”
The local election candidate explained that the Single Farm Application has now commenced for 2014 with a deadline of May 15th and he urged farmers to be extremely careful with their applications.
“This is the most important piece of paperwork in the farming year and one simple mistake can lead to a serious loss of single payment income. There is now the additional complication surrounding leased entitlements that might have to be transferred before the deadline to avoid losing them completely.”
He said that he would now urge all farmers to contact their Agricultural Consultant or Advisor as soon as possible to make sure their SFP application is correct and their entitlements are maximised for 2014.
“You should also be able of get a very close estimate of what your entitlement payment will be from 2014 through to 2019 under the new Basic Payment and Greening scheme and I would urge all farmers to get professional help with the Single Farm Application this year so that they can focus on what they do best – farming,” he concluded.
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