Single Farm Payment (2011 Single Application Questions)

Are there particular points for applicants to bear in mind when completing their form?

The Single Application Form must be completed by a farm business wishing to claim payment of Single Farm Payment (SFP) Entitlements in 2011 as well as those wishing to claim for 2012 Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances (LFACA).

Completed applications must be received by DARD by 16 May 2011 to avoid late application penalties.

Detailed information about the aid schemes covered by the Single Application together with guidance on the completion of the form is provided in the IACS/ Single Application 2011 Applicants’ Guide. A copy of the guide is contained in the application packs now being issued to farm businesses that lodged a Single Application in 2010. Copies are also available on request from local DARD offices and the SFP Helpline (Tel 028 71319900). Applicants may also need to refer to the other information guides detailed at Section 1 of the Applicants’ Guide.

The 2012 LFACA Guidance Notes have issued to all those who claimed LFACA in 2011. It will explain, as far as is possible, at this stage, the requirements of the 2012 scheme. It is important that the 2012 LFACA claim is included in the 2011 Single Application Form. Applicants are reminded that to qualify for 2012 LFACA their stocking density must have been at least 0.2 Livestock Units per hectare throughout the entire 7 month period of 1 April to 31 October 2011.

Are there particular points for applicants to bear in mind when completing their form?

A number of important points to remember are shown at Section 1 of the Applicants’ Guide. These include:

All agricultural land owned by the farm business and land leased out or leased in/ taken in conacre must be declared on the field data sheet. This includes any land not being used to support a claim for aid or which is considered ineligible for aid.

Landowners and tenants should agree the precise terms of land letting arrangements and who has the right to claim payment of aid on individual fields before they submit an application.

In most cases, if land is over or under/not declared, including the duplication of land with another farm business, penalties will be applied and payment reduced.

Any standard entitlements activated in 2009 which have not been used to claim payment in 2010 must be used in 2011 otherwise they will be taken away and put in the National Reserve. This means that a farm business would lose the value of these entitlements completely for the future.

No further entitlements can be established than the number allocated to your business in 2005. You will have to obtain entitlements by transfer from another farm business. Applications to transfer entitlements for use in the 2010 scheme year must be made on form TE1 and received by DARD by 2 April 2010. The application form and information about the transfer process is contained in the Transfer of Entitlements Guidance booklet available on request form the Trading/Entitlement Section, Orchard House (Tel 028 71319900).

One of the most significant cause of queries on 2010 Single Applications was differences in field areas claimed compared with that held on the Department’s mapping system, the Geographical Information System(GIS). In the majority of cases the area differences were small and required minor adjustment of the claim and to the entitlements previously allocated to the business rather than application of any penalty. Farmers are urged to check their maps and advise their local office of any changes on the form GIS 2 contained in the 2011 Single Application pack. This form is also available on the DARD website (www.dardni.gov.uk/index/grants-and-funding.htm) and on request from local DARD offices. Changes being reported by tenants must also be authorised on the notification form by the landowner. In all cases the area of the field recorded on the field data sheet must agree with the area held on the DARD mapping system.

Experience of the 2010 process suggests there are particular aspects of claims where queries, and the extra processing they generate, could have been avoided. Applicants should consider the following points before returning their completed forms:

Have both the application form and field data sheets been fully completed and all relevant questions answered?

Are enough entitlements held to cover all the area which the business wishes to activate for payment of SFP in 2011?

Have all the entitlements been activated that can be, or that the business wishes to activate?

Has the form been signed?

The same rules apply as in previous years. Under no circumstances will it be possible for two or more farm businesses to claim a payment under the same aid scheme for the same area of land. In these cases, the applicant whose application has to be reduced may be penalised and payment reduced. It is essential that the landowner and tenant agree who has the right to claim before the claim is submitted.

To be eligible for SFP, the key points are that the applicant must:

The other main issues are:

You should contact your local DARD office to get advice and an application form FB1. This form must be received, where possible, by DARD before and no later than the date the Single Application is submitted.

Yes. Any business wishing to use the online service will need to register with DARD before 9 May 2011 so that they can be provided with a Government Gateway ID and a DARD access key. More information about the online service is available on Tel 028 71290068.