Eligible farm businesses which have not registered for the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme have until midnight on 7 September to do so in what the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has described as the final registration opportunity. The mop-up registration phase opened on 5 August. DAERA says no further opportunity to join the scheme will follow after the deadline.
The department has linked registration for the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme to the Farm Sustainability Payment. It says both scheme registration and associated CAFRE training are conditions of that payment. Farm businesses that are eligible but remain unregistered therefore need to take account of the 7 September deadline and the requirement for the related training.
The current window is not a routine reopening, according to DAERA. It is the final phase offered to businesses that have not yet signed up to the scheme. It began on 5 August and runs through to midnight on 7 September, giving unregistered eligible businesses a defined period in which to complete registration.
DAERA has emphasised that the opportunity will not be repeated. The department’s notice is directed at farm businesses which are eligible for the scheme but have not already registered. The deadline applies to registration in the final mop-up phase. Businesses considering participation should ensure they act before the midnight closing time on 7 September.
The Soil Nutrient Health Scheme requirement sits alongside associated CAFRE training in the conditions identified by DAERA for the Farm Sustainability Payment. Both elements are named by the department as relevant to the payment. The announcement therefore concerns more than a general invitation to register: it also highlights the connection between the scheme, training and payment conditions.
With the registration window open, the department has repeated that 7 September is the last date for unregistered eligible farm businesses to join. After midnight on that date, DAERA says no additional registration opportunity will be provided. The final phase gives those businesses a last opportunity to meet the scheme-registration element identified by the department, alongside the associated CAFRE training requirement.