Mayo in-person farmer clinics for BISS and other schemes

THE Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has announced a series of in-person farmer clinics to assist farmers in making their applications online for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based schemes.

They include a Mayo clinic, taking place in Ballina on April 9 at the Great National Hotel.

All 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 next.

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

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 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 a Farm Advisory System (FAS) approved advisor to assist them with their application.

A full list of clinics is available on the events page of the department's website.

The Mayo (Ballina) clinic will be held in the Great National Hotel on Thursday, April 9. There will also be a clinic in Tuam, in the Ard Rí House Hotel, on May 5.