The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has been called on by the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) to immediately issue the Beef Finishers Payment (BFP).

Making the calls, ICMSA Livestock Committee chairperson Des Morrison noted that the department had given a commitment to make the payment in November.

The Beef Finishers Payment is worth approximately €100 per head of eligible animals to all eligible applicants in the scheme.

Morrison said the payment relates to losses suffered by farmers in the time period from February 1 to June 12, 2020.

He added, given that the closing date for applications was early September, it is to be expected that farmers should be receiving this payment without any further delay.

Morrison said that – set against the serious profitability issues in beef production and the annual bills traditionally paid at this time of year – the issuing and receipt of this payment would give farmer cash-flow a much-needed boost.

When the details of the scheme were first announced, the definition of an eligible animal was as follows:
  • Slaughtered in the reference period from Saturday, February 1, to Friday, June 12, 2020;
  • Aged eight months or more when slaughtered;
  • Resident on the qualifying herd for at least 30 days prior to slaughter (if not, the previous owner is eligible for payment if he or she is an applicant and has had the animal for over 30 days on his or her holding);
  • Not identified on department systems as presented for slaughter by, or on behalf of, a factory;
  • Subject to a cap on payments, whereby the cap is 100 eligible animals per herd.

Some 28,095 applications were cleared for the scheme back in September, which accounts for 465,888 animals.