The 2016 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), the most important paperwork for more than 130,000 farmers in the year, opens for applications next week.

Online applications will open first, with application packs sent to farmers in March. The closing date will be Monday 16 May. The big push this year will be to get more farmers to apply online, with a target of getting close to 100% online in 2017. A successful focus by the Department has seen online applications rise to 90,000 in 2015. This still leaves more than 40,000 farmers sending in paper applications that have to be scanned and digitised before they can be processed.

The Departments also looks set to introduce preliminary checks this year as part of simplification. This would see the Department check applications that are submitted and contact farmers if an error is identified. The farmer then has the ability to make changes without penalties. This could rule out major issues, especially around dual claims and over-claims, which has seen thousands of farmers penalised and their payments delayed in the past. The other changes from simplification could see reductions in sanctions where there is an over-claim of land and a yellow card system during inspections. The IFA met the European Commission in Brussels this week and said it got a commitment that the new rules put on the table by Commissioner Phil Hogan will be mandatory this year.

The ability to perform preliminary checks in 2016 might only be implemented on online applications. The Department is doing an information roadshow to give one-on-one technical assistance at workshops around the country to help farmers make the transition to online applications.