Basic Payment Application 2021- It will pay to get it right!
By Noel Mannion,
Drystock Advisor,
Roscommon Town
Farmers in Roscommon/ Longford have recently received their Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) Form and land maps in the post to assist them in completing the application on-line for 2021. A lot of money hinges on the accurate completion of this form and related forms. Submission of this form is a requirement for entry/participation in many other schemes such as ANC (Areas of Natural Constraint) GLAS, TAMS, BDGP, Organics etc.
Declaring lands being farmed in 2021
Farmers in Longford had their land parcels re-digitised (re-mapped) for 2020 BPS and Roscommon farmers for 2021. This fine tuning of parcel boundaries has meant that some land parcels have got smaller and some have got bigger. It is important to check the land parcel boundaries on the maps you got to be sure that they accurately reflect the amount of land you are farming. There may need to be changes made to some parcels e.g. a house may have been built on the farm or a new farm building erected since last year. The correct amount of deductions needs to be made for such ineligible features to avoid a possible overclaim and maybe a payment penalty. This can also have implications for payments in other schemes, such as ANC and GLAS. It may also have an effect on the number of Entitlements that you hold.
Farm Entitlements and Herd number changes
BPS applicants are required to be a holder of a registered herd number or have applied to the local DVO for a herd number on or before 17th May, 2021. Any change to the registration details of an existing herd number (e.g. the addition or removal of a family member) requires a parallel change to the registration details of the Entitlements, and a Transfer of Entitlement application should be submitted. ). It is vital to let your adviser know well in advance if you are contemplating name changes on the Herd number so that you can be given advice about when is best time to make such changes and to be planning ahead.
Entitlement Usage – Two Year Rule
All entitlements allocated under BPS and the National Reserve are subject to a two-year usage rule. If a farmer has unused entitlements for two consecutive years, the lowest value entitlements held by that farmer revert to the National Reserve in the second year of non-usage
The ideal is to have one entitlement for each hectare claimed. If you have less entitlements than claimed hectares you could consider buying or leasing-in entitlements. If you have surplus entitlements you could consider leasing them out or selling them or renting in some additional land. Again, good advice in relation to possible tax implications etc. of the above options should be sought.
In a future article we will look at the 2021 National Reserve (Young Farmer/New Entrant) and Young Farmers Scheme.
Teagasc provides a Local Advisory and Education service to farmers. They have offices based in Roscommon Town (Tel: 090 6626166), Castlerea (Tel: 094 9620160) and Longford Town (Tel: 043 3341021), You can find us on Facebook @Teagascroscommonlongford and twitter @teagascRNLD. Email; RoscommonLongfordAdvisory@teagasc.ie