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The deadline for submission of data for farm improvement plans under the Knowledge Transfer (KT) programme has been extended until 21 August 2017.
Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed announced the deadline extension on Monday.
The 31 July deadline for holding meetings of KT groups remains in place.
Minister Creed said: “The extension of the deadline until 21 August will allow advisers and planners further time to finalise actions required under the scheme.”
It will also enable vets to finalise animal health measures for farmer participants.
“This extension will enable advisers and vets to benefit from extra time to finalise actions for their Knowledge Transfer groups and to progress the outstanding work carried out to date under the scheme.
“In turn, this allows farmers to derive maximum benefit from the Knowledge Transfer programme.”
The news comes after it emerged last week that over 17,000 farmers were yet to complete a farm improvement plan and over 16,000 animal health measures were still to be submitted by vets on behalf of farmers.
KT programme
The KT programme is funded under the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014-2020 and involves group interaction complemented by one-to-one advice across a range of sectors.
Funding of €100m is allocated under the RDP for KT groups across the dairy, beef, equine, sheep, tillage and poultry sectors.
Under the Knowledge Transfer groups, participants attend meetings and approved Knowledge Transfer events which, together with a tailored farm improvement plan, are aimed at supporting farmers in addressing a range of competitiveness and sustainability challenges facing the sector.
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