Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue announced the opening of two new support measures for the suckler and beef sectors.
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• The €260m Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) under the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP)
• The €5m National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme 2023.
The SCEP is the successor to the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP), has a budget of €260m over five years, and is co-funded by the EU under the CSP. The SCEP rewards participant farmers with a payment equivalent to €150/cow on the first 22 cows and €120/cow on subsequent cows.
The National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme 2023 is a successor to similar schemes in 2021 and 2022, has a budget of €5m, and is funded from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve.
Applications for both measures can be lodged through agfood.ie with a closing date of 2nd May for the Dairy Beef Scheme and 22nd May for the SCEP.
Commenting on the opening of the measures, Minister McConalogue said: ”As Minister, I have consistently advocated for and secured vital supports to make suckler and beef farming more efficient and competitive. Our suckler and beef farmers are the best in the world and I will continue to stand behind them and back them.
“I am supporting our farm families to help them make their enterprises more economically and environmentally efficient. This is a key focus for me because the output of those farms accounted for €3 billion worth of exports to more than 70 markets worldwide in 2022.”
Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP)
The SCEP targets bovine emissions through enhanced use of genetics, genomics, and performance metrics. It will operate as a five-year contract. The scheme, which is subject to final approval by the European Commission, is structured around four mandatory actions which must be undertaken by participants in each year of the scheme.
These actions relate to the replacement strategy for both dams and sires, genotyping, weighing of suckler cow/calf pairs and data recording.
Membership of the Bord Bia SBLAS is a requirement for participation in this scheme and participants need to engage early with Bord Bia to ensure that they meet this requirement.
National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme 2023
Participants are required to weigh a minimum of five eligible calves and submit details to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation. From 1st May 2023, all data should be submitted within seven days of weighing until 1st November 2023.
The payment rate is up to €20 per eligible calf weighed, subject to a maximum of 50 calves. ■