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Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., today announced that the deadline for submission of data for Farm Improvement Plans in Knowledge Transfer Groups will be extended by two weeks until 14^th August, 2018. The 31^st July deadline for holding meetings of KT Groups remains in place.

Minister Creed commented

Following on from discussions with key stakeholders, I have decided to extend the period for Knowledge Transfer Group facilitators to submit completed Farm Improvement Plans under the Knowledge Transfer Programme.  In particular, this extension has arisen on foot of concerns expressed in relation to the amount of resources currently being dedicated by advisory services to assisting farmers in dealing with the current weather conditions.

Minister Creed added

This extension will enable advisors 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 Minister also urged all participants in Knowledge Transfer Groups to submit their Farm Improvement Plan data as soon as possible.  Processing will begin on cases submitted by the original 31^st July deadline in order to ensure that any impact on payment timelines is minimised.