Map updates need careful check – DARD

Farmers in Northern Ireland are being asked to be extra careful when completing this year’s Single Application Form (SAF) to make sure that updated mapping information is correct.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) has said the 2013 SAF process will get under way this week with the launch of the online application service and is urging farmers to make full use of their most up-to-date maps and available online resources when completing their applications.

Paper forms will not be sent out to farmers until early April.

“In recent months DARD has issued new maps to farmers and information from these will be used to pre-populate the 2013 forms,” said a spokeswoman.

“This year, for the first time, farmers will be provided with a Maximum Eligible Area for each field to help them complete their forms more accurately and only claim for land that is eligible. Farmers are encouraged to be extra careful when completing this year’s forms and pay particular attention to the information set out on their updated scheme maps and the field data information which is pre-printed on their SAF.”

The department is urging as many farmers as possible to complete their forms online as it says it can process them faster.

It will soon make an online map viewer service available, which will enable farmers to view and ­measure fields and ineligible features that should be deducted from their claim.

It is hoped this will increase the accuracy of claims and help avoid delays in payment later in the year.

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