Sheep grant claims may be made soon

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32956, 30 June 1972, Page 7

Sheep grant claims may be made soon

Farmers will soon be able to claim their final payments under the stock retention incentive scheme.

The executive, officer in the Department of Agriculture in Christchurch, Mr W. Willcox, said that it was hoped to post this week to farmers in the South Island north of the Waitaki River the form for the five-yearly sheep return, together with a circular about the stock retention scheme and an

application form for the final payment. Sheepfarmers have already received advance payments amounting to twothirds of the total grant based on stock numbers as at June 30 last year, and over the country up to April 20 $21.716m had been paid out on 21,800 claims. About

sl.4m has been paid out on 1118 claims in the area between Cheviot and the Raikaia River, but excluding Rangiora county. The scheme is, however, based on sheep numbers as at June 30 this year and the final payment will be made on this basis. Mr Willcox said it was hoped that final payments would start to be made in early August. Where there has been a significant increase in sheep numbers between June last year and the same time this year, he said that farmers would be asked to give brief reasons for this. If a farmer had gone out of sheep since last June and had received an advance payment he would be required to repay it. Payments will be made through the same channels as with the advance payments — through a farmer’s bank account or through his stock firm. Full details of payments made are being supplied to the Internal Revenue Department. No payments are made on flocks of less than 250 sheep but where numbers range from 251 to 5000 inclusive the payment is $1 per sheep, from 5001 to 10,000 inclusive there is an additional 60c per sheep and above 10,000 an extra 20c per head.