There was a surge of Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) applications submitted ahead of Wednesday night’s deadline.

While official figures are not yet available reports indicate applications are on track to match 2023’s figure of approximately 128,000 applications.

The spike in activity is confirmed in 6,000 applications being submitted from 12 to 13 May followed by another 16,000 applications since then.

Attention is now turning to late applications and amendments.

Farmers with who applied by the deadline can make penalty-free changes up to 31 May.

There is a 25-calendar day window to submit applications after the 15 May deadline subject to a penalty of 1% for each working day.