News

UFU proposal to ease map pressures

The Ulster Farmers’ Union has made a proposal to DARD which should ease the pressures on farmers to ensure that their farm maps are accurate before 22 February.  Speaking on this important subject, UFU President Harry Sinclair said the Union is urging all members to immediately check the accuracy of their new farm maps if they have not already done so.   Any landowner who hasn’t yet received their map should contact DARD immediately to get this resolved.

Harry Sinclair said; “We all want to keep red tape in the industry to a minimum and there is no doubt that the issuing of new maps to farmers in recent years has caused problems and hassle for individual members. These maps differ from the ones provided during the 2012 Single Application period as they have been updated based on the latest available aerial photography.  Unfortunately farmers who have sat down with DARD in recent years to update their previous maps, have discovered that the changes they agreed may not have been included on the latest maps.  This is very frustrating to say the least for the farmers affected.  If you fit into this category, you do unfortunately need to contact DARD once again to get your maps updated, but DARD can take certain steps to minimise the time taken if you had previously submitted a GIS 2 land amendment form and there have been no further changes to your fields in the meantime.”  

Mr Sinclair continued; “The Union is aware that a significant number of the last batch of new maps, which were issued by DARD last week, have a considerable number of fields missing from them. DARD have since then confirmed that complete updated versions of these maps should be available on-line and from DARD Direct offices by the middle of next week.  Against this background and with the short time remaining, the UFU has proposed for DARD to delay sending out the Single Farm Payment applications for a few weeks for those farmers who find themselves in this situation. This should also apply to those who have requested an appointment at a DARD Direct office which cannot take place until after the 22 February.  This will allow amendments associated with these maps to be made and these can then be incorporated into the pre-printed data on their Single Farm Payment forms. Our members have made it very clear to us that they would much prefer receiving a correctly pre-printed Single Farm Payment application later, rather than receiving an incorrect one earlier.”

The Unions general advice to members is to check the accuracy of the maps and contact DARD Direct on 0300 200 7848 as soon as possible if any of the information is incorrect. The information contained on the maps will be used to pre-print the field data sheets of the 2013 single farm payment applications, so it is important for farmers to have this correct to ease the processing of their applications. DARD can still update your map after the 22 February but it will be too late to ensure that the correct details are pre-printed on your 2013 Single Farm Payment application form, which could lead to delays in processing your SFP application.