FARMERS have until May 15 to complete their 2017 Single Application Forms – and they should not expect any extension to that deadline.

The online application process has seen significant improvements in recent years, and NFU Scotland has welcomed the increased flow of early submissions, with the Scottish Government reporting 50% more already in the system than this point last year.

However, the union warned that the 'peak volume' of applications – whether submitted online, on paper or through an agent – was still to be reached, and with less than a fortnight to go, only 5550 of the expected 18,000 applications had actually been completed.

Despite the multiple demands of spring work, the union has urged applicants to 'crack on' and start filling out their SAF as soon as possible – and warned that, unlike 2015 and 2016, there is no likelihood of Europe granting an extension to the application period this year.

NFUS director of policy Jonnie Hall said: “NFU Scotland understands that as of Monday May 1, almost 5000 online SAF forms had been completed and submitted and a further 5000 had been started online. A further 550 paper SAFs have been received by SGRPID.

"While these figures are a significant improvement on 2015 and 2016, they suggest that peak volume in applications has still to be reached with the May 15 deadline looming. There is still a lot of work to be done by many applicants, we urge them to crack on and we repeat our warning that, in our view, there is no chance of any extension to the SAF deadline being granted by Europe this year.”

The union has also reminded those looking to meet the Greening requirements to include the maps of their Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) with the application or risk significant disallowances.

Combinable crops policy manager Peter Loggie said: “We can’t stress enough to those applying for Greening the importance of including a map of your EFA with the application. That map is considered a ‘supporting document’ which must also be submitted by the annual May 15 deadline.

“If the EFA map is missing, the result can be a total loss of the whole Greening element because it is deemed that the application for Greening has not been made on time," warned Mr Loggie. "In addition, from this year, a penalty on top of that can be applied, even if all EFA rules have been complied with fully on the ground.

“We urge all applicants to take this seriously. NFUS is aware of one member who may yet lose out on a significant part of their 2016 support claim because of their failure to supply EFA maps appropriately last year.”