There were 19,122 SAF applications made to the agricultural department by the deadline of midnight on the May 15 – though the number may rise over the coming days as forms can be submitted late which will incur a penalty.

In the final days before the deadline, agricultural advisors and some farmers were struggling with the Scottish Government's IT system which slowed down significantly. Reports from last week stated that a 'very large SAF form' had made the entire system difficult to work.

The Scottish Farmer understands that a SNP Scottish MSP was sending emails to civil servants late into the night to ensure all forms got submitted into the government's database on time