With Single Application Forms (SAFs) taking significantly longer than last year to complete and the deadline of May 15 already past NFU Cymru is urging its members to complete the form as a matter of urgency.

Applications received between up to June 9 will be accepted but will incur financial penalties. Applications received after Monday, 9 June 2015 will be completely rejected.

If your application has been made it is possible to make changes to the application up to and including the June 1 without a penalty.

Completion of the form ensures access to farm support under the new Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and land based rural development payments including Glastir Entry, Glastir Advanced, Glastir Organic and Glastir Woodland.

NFU Cymru President, Stephen James, said, “This year’s Single Application Form is proving to be the most complicated and time consuming on record. Our members and NFU Cymru staff who provide assistance with SAF completion are reporting that the time taken to fill in the form is at least twice what it is has been in previous years.

“The main areas of concern surround the additional measuring required as a result of the decision by Welsh Government to exclude land areas with tree densities greater than 100 trees per hectare, the additional Greening mapping requirements and for farmers in Glastir the cross checking required between Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 schemes.”

Once the SAF form has been submitted a formal acknowledgement will be sent out either electronically or through the post, depending on how the form was completed.

NFU Cymru is advising farmers to check this through thoroughly to ensure that the form is correctly completed. Should there be any errors inform Rural Payments Wales immediately if you want to make a change in order to avoid possible penalties. The following are some key areas to make sure you have completed correctly:

• Checked you meet the eligibility criteria as detailed in the Single Application Rules booklet

• Applied for an allocation of BPS Entitlements if applying for the Basic Payment Scheme.

• Indicated which fields and/or crops you wish to claim for each scheme.

• Submitted the appropriate supporting documents, some of these documents must be submitted by post /in person.

• Used the new crop codes, where necessary, as listed in the Single Application Rules Booklet.

If you have any questions about your Single Application Form, please contact the RPW Customer Contact Centre on 0300 062 5004.