Ballymena farmers may be interested to hear that the agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill announced the opening of the Basic Payment Scheme Entitlements Transfer window. Farmers can now transfer Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) entitlements when the Entitlements window opens on 4 April.
The Minister stated: “From 4 April farmers and agents can begin transferring entitlements for 2016 BPS”. Entitlements can be transferred by gift, sale, lease or through actual or anticipated inheritance. They can also be transferred as the result of a business merger or scission. For a transfer to take effect for the 2016 BPS year DARD must receive the application between 4 April and 3 May 2016.”
The Minister said: “This year my Department is offering a new online service to complete your transfer on line. If the transfer is straightforward the easiest way to do this is using DARD’s new online Entitlement Transfer service. This service is secure, fast and easy to use. There is no paper form to complete and the transfer takes place instantly.”
Farmers who wish to transfer entitlements on paper must do so using Form TE1 ‘Transfer Application’. For a transfer to take effect for the 2016 BPS Scheme year DARD must receive the TE1 application between 4 April and 3 May 2016.
DARD plan to have issued Entitlement Statements to all eligible farmers by the end of March. The Entitlement Statement shows the final number and value of the entitlements that were allocated to farm businesses under the 2015 BPS. It also shows the unique Entitlement Transfer ID which farmers will need if they wish to use the online transfer service or the paper transfer application.
The Minister concluded: “If you have already registered through the Government Gateway all you need is the Business ID and Entitlement Transfer ID of the person you are transferring your entitlements to”. (Source)
If you are a local farmer and you don’t already have a Gateway ID or password, call the DARD online services team on 028 9442 6699 or text EASY to 67300 or click here to visit the DARD website.
