The new Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS) announced by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue, under the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), has been met with much disappointment by sheep farmers.
The Sheep Improvement Scheme, which will take over from the Sheep Welfare Scheme (SWS), is set to see no real change on the €10/ewe payment – despite many calls for this to increase.
Farm organisations – particularly the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) – were looking for a €30/ewe and €35/ewe payment respectively, under the new CAP. However, their demands have apparently fallen on deaf ears.
The €100 million allocated to the SIS is set to work out at €20 million a year over the duration of the next CAP (2023-2027).
Under the new SIS, the measures which farmers had to undertake under the SWS aren’t going to change, according to the consultation document released earlier this year.
However, there is expected to be the addition of farmers completing a ‘genotyped ram action’ throughout the period of the scheme.
Speaking to farmers, many are very disappointed with the funding allocated to the new scheme, claiming that sheep farmers, once again, have been ‘sold out’.
The number of sheep farmers likely to enroll in this new scheme is substantial, considering over 18,000 are signed up to the current SWS.
Many other farmers however, say that as long as lamb prices stay strong, like they have been over the past 18 months, they will be happy – regardless of the outcome of the new SIS.
However, despite lamb prices being strong, input costs continue to soar, which will eat into any margins being made by sheep producers.
All in all, the announcement of the new SIS, and the funding allocated to it, is underwhelming and falls short of what many would have hoped for.