An estimated 30,000 suckler and beef farmers are set to receive €42 million in payments from two support schemes, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has confirmed today (Friday, December 2).
Minister Charlie McConalogue said the payments will be made to farmers who participated in the Beef Sector Efficiency Programme BEEP-S and also the Dairy-Beef Calf Programme.
“These two schemes have proven very popular with farmers. They have provided income supports to farmers while also helping to drive important efficiency gains,” the minister added.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) the key aim of the BEEP-S programme was to increase economic and environmental efficiency in the suckler herd through better quality data on herd performance.
Meanwhile, the aim of the Dairy-Beef Calf Programme was also to “encourage economic and environmental efficiency of beef from the dairy herd” and to encourage “integration of the dairy and beef sectors by providing support for farmers who are rearing progeny from the dairy herd”.
The dairy beef welfare scheme will continue in its current format which is the weighing of dairy beef calves, which will provide a payment of €20/calf up to a maximum of 40 calves.
The minister said he was acutely aware of the importance of payments under both of these schemes for the sector.
“The processing of such payments at the earliest possible opportunity remains a key priority for my department,” he said.
“We seek to issue payments in a rapid manor to as many farmers as possible and this will continue to be a key priority of mine.”
The DAFM has published a county-by-county breakdown of the latest programme payments to farmers.
The roll out of payments to farmers comes in the same week that the Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group, which was set up back in June and tasked with discussing how emissions could be reduced, delivered its final report to the minister.
The key stakeholders in the group included senior representatives from farm organisations and the beef and sheep processing industry.
Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group final report
The final report details nine measures that could “reduce greenhouse gas emissions” including a voluntary diversification scheme and a voluntary extensification scheme – both of which would result in a removal or reduction in the number of suckler cows on farms.
Many of the stakeholders who participated in the group have been vocal about their “serious reservations” on these measures.
The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA) withdrew from the process entirely and Meat Industry Ireland has warned that €1.5 billion would be lost from the rural economy if the measures contained in the report to reduce suckler cow numbers went ahead.