Farmers were today being urged to consider claiming or applying for Farming Connect subsidised services following recent changes to the scheme's claims rules.
At a Farmers' Union of Wales agricultural education and training committee meeting, delegates were reminded that in order to reduce bureaucracy Farming Connect has removed the six-month deadline rule for submission of claims for subsidised services, which applies to all approvals processed since July 2008.
"This is an excellent opportunity for farmers to make use of the services offered by Farming Connect," said the committee's chairman Alun Edwards.
"There are a range of subsidised services available which will run until 2013 and I would strongly urge farmers to take advantage of the scheme before the end of the current programme.
"The six-month deadline rule was abolished from 7 November 2011, and any customers who have either had claims rejected, or have not submitted a claim at all, will be contacted and invited to re-claim if eligible.
"Farmers are now eligible to claim funding for any of the Farming Connect subsidised services, regardless of whether they have received mentoring, advice or attended a course and paid in full but did not claim the funding within the six months, or they have received a rejection letter for having claimed funding outside the six month window."
The scheme will close to new applications for subsidised support at the end of September 2013, which will give six months for work to be completed and final claims to be submitted before the end of the current Rural Development period.