Applications Help Online SFP

Question 1 – Total land, in Hectares, claimed for SFP – type in an amount to two decimal places e.g. ‘15.26’ or ‘36.00’ – this amount should match the total of all the areas of fields you put on Column H (area activated) of the Field Data Screen. If Question 1 and Column H of the Field Data Screen do not match, you will see an error when you try and finally submit the application.

Question 2 – Activate Entitlements. If you wish to activate an amount of land equal to the number of Entitlements shown above Question 1, you should tick ‘YES’

If you want to claim a different amount of land to the number of Entitlements held, you should click ‘NO’ – Two sets of boxes will be shown where you can specify each different number and type of entitlements on which you wish to claim. These should be entered to two decimal places.

Question 3  - Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowance (LFA) – If you do not wish to claim for LFA payment, select ‘No’

If you wish to claim payment of LFA, select ‘Yes’ – a box will be shown for you to enter, to two decimal places, the area for which you wish to claim LFA. The area you put in this box must match the total of the eligible land you declare at Column I of the Field Data Screen.

A new question, ‘3.1’ will also be shown – you must enter the total number of breeding ewes on your holding.

Question 4 – Aid for Energy Crops (ECS) - If you do not wish to claim for ECS payment, select ‘No’

If you wish to claim payment of ECS, select ‘Yes’ – a box will be shown for you to enter, to two decimal places, the area for which you wish to claim ECS. The area you put in this box must match the total of the eligible land you declare at Column J of the Field Data Screen.

Question 5 – Protein Crop Premium (PCP) - If you do not wish to claim for PCP payment, select ‘No’

If you wish to claim payment of PCP, select ‘Yes’ – a box will be shown for you to enter, to two decimal places, the area for which you wish to claim PCP. The area you put in this box must match the total of the eligible land you declare at Column K of the Field Data Screen.

If you wish to claim for either NICMS or OFS, you should click on the appropriate button on the screen which displayed your business details when you logged in. The options shown are ‘Go to SFPS Claim form’ and ‘Go to AES claim form’

Question 6 – 6.4 – NI Countryside Management Scheme (NICMS) – You should only answer these if your agreement started on 1 January 2009. Please enter any appropriate areas in Hectares to two decimal places.

Question 7 – Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) - You should only answer this if your agreement started on 1 January 2009. Please enter area in Hectares to two decimal places.

Question 8 – Common Grazing - if your application includes an area of common grazing, you should click ‘Yes’ and a box will be shown in which you should enter, to two decimal places, the common grazing area. This area must match the equivalent common area you activate on the Field Data Screen.

If you don’t have an area of common grazing, click ‘No’

Question 9 – Please select any of the three regions shown if applicable – if you select one by mistake, click the same one again to deselect.

If you have land in other regions, you must contact Single Farm Payment Branch, Orchard House for further information. See the section “Cross Border Holdings” in the 2009 Applicants’ Guide for further information (available to view at single_farm_payment_2009_notes_for_guidance-2.pdf ).

You should answer Questions 10 to 12 relating to Cross Compliance as appropriate, by selecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’

Question 13 – Preferred currency of payment – If you would prefer to receive you Single Farm Payment in Euro, please click ‘Yes’. If you click ‘No’ your SFP will be issued as a Sterling payment.

To receive your payment in Euro, you MUST have a separate United Kingdom (UK) Euro bank account. Payments will only be made electronically direct to your nominated bank account within the UK banking system (Euro BACS).

If details of such an account have not already been notified to the Department please contact Systems Management Section, Orchard House to obtain a UK Euro BACS form (BACS12A).

Note: Whether payment is in Sterling or Euro, the same Bank Account cannot be used for more than one farm business.

Question 14 – Please tick ‘Yes’ if you wish to be registered for agricultural waste exemptions for activities list in section ?? of the 2009 Applicants Guidance Booklet – this will have been included in your claim pack or is available to view online at single_farm_payment_2009_notes_for_guidance-2.pdf

Question 15 – Please select any of the options shown if you wish to register for specific complex agricultural waste exemptions. Click on any to select or click again to deselect.

For more information see Section 11 of the 2008 Applicants’ Guide (view online at single_farm_payment_2009_notes_for_guidance-2.pdf ) or contact The Environment Heritage Service on (028) 9056 9360.

The field data screen is displayed in page format with 9 fields viewable on each page to match the paper SAF2. To navigate between pages, click the blue page number below the Farm Survey Number

Claiming SFP - You must visit the Field Data screen to make sure the land on which you are claiming is correct. If you claimed SFP in 2008, the screen should already show all the fields that you claimed last year. Any fields not shown will already have been notified to you separately. It is your responsibility to ensure all the land you wish to claim payment on is entered at Column H.

Declaring all Land - You must declare on this Field Data Sheet (SAF 2) all the agricultural land that you own (that is, on your farm map), lease out or take in conacre even if you are not claiming for that land or you consider that the land is not eligible for SFP. If you do not declare all the land on your holding, you may be penalised and your payment reduced

Amending field areas - If you wish to amend the values of individual fields, click ‘Edit’ to the right of each field line. The appropriate boxes will change to white and data can be amended. You should then click ‘Save’ to the right of the line.

If you need to split, amalgamate or change the area of a field, you should make the amendments as above, but you must also notify changes to your local office on Form GIS2 – this can be downloaded from   http://www.dardni.gov.uk/index/publications/pubs-dard-grants-and-funding/geographic-information-system-(gis2).htm

Adding extra uses - If you are now using a field for more than one purpose, even if not an agricultural use, you should show all the uses for that field. To add the extra use, click ‘Add Use’ and then ‘Edit’ and appropriate data can then be changed. You should then click ‘Save’ to the right of the line.

Deleting Fields – if you wish to delete one or more fields completely from your application, you should select by clicking the box in the ‘Delete’ column between Column K (Protein) and the ‘Add Use’ button. Then click ‘Delete’ at the bottom of the screen to action.

When you have input all your fields, click ‘Back to Claim’ to finalise your application. You should then click on ‘Submit’ to complete the claim which will send the details to us.

Warnings and Errors – if there are differences in your application, either a Warning or an Error will be shown when you try to submit your application. Examples area shown below:

Warning – for information, application can still be submitted if you are content with the details. If you have entered an area which doesn’t match the area currently on GIS, warning will be shown identifying each field where this occurs. This may be because you are also notifying GIS of a field area change that you have made; you can still submit your application if the area will be changed.

Errors – application cannot be submitted. If Errors are shown, eg Total of Column H of the Field Data Sheet doesn’t match Question 1 of the claim, you cannot finally submit the application until you fix the appropriate data.

If you have any problems or would like any extra guidance, please call 028 71290068 or email gspd.sfpsonline@dardni.gov.uk