Department holding Mayo farmer clinic this month

THE Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is holding an in-person farmer clinic to assist farmers in making their applications online for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS), and other area-based schemes, in Mayo on Thursday, April 10.

The BISS farmer clinics will take place from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. and staff from the department will provide one-to-one support to assist farmers to submit their scheme applications well in advance of the closing date of May 15.

These clinics have proved very popular in past years with farmers.

The Mayo clinic is taking place on Thursday, April 10, in The Great National Hotel, Ballina, from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.

Speaking about the clinics, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said: “These clinics have been exceptionally popular in recent years and offer an opportunity for farmers to engage directly with officials from my department.

“We have excellent advisors to support farmers in making their BISS applications, but where farmers are not in a position to engage an advisor the clinics are an excellent means of ensuring that the BISS application is submitted correctly and on-time.”

In total, 16 farmer clinics are scheduled around the country (the full list is available at gov.ie/agriculture/events) and offer an opportunity for farmers to be supported by department staff in making a range of applications related to area-based support schemes, such as BISS.

These clinics are particularly useful for farmers who do not have an FAS approved advisor to assist them with their application.