Closing date for BPS and BEEP-S applications this Friday

The closing date for applications under the Basic Payments Scheme (BPS) and the Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot – Sucklers (BEEP-S) is this coming Friday, May 15.

According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, over 115,000 BPS applications have been made, while 20,156 applications have been made under the BEEP-S scheme as of today, Tuesday, May 12.

Applications for the 2020 BPS opened on February 21. The current figure of applications is understood to be notably ahead of the figure for the same stage of the applications process last year.

Meanwhile, the BEEP-S scheme is an upgrade from the BEEP scheme that was in place last year. As well as the weighing process that was part of last year’s scheme, additional options have also been added to the new scheme.

BEEP-S, which has a funding provision of €35 million in 2020, will target the weaning efficiency of suckler cows and calves – measuring the live weight of the calf at weaning as a percentage of the cow’s live weight.

If participants take on the additional measures along with the weight recording measure, they will be eligible for a payment of up to €90 for the first ten suckler cow/calf pairs per herd, and up to €80 per pair thereafter, subject to an overall maximum of 100 pairs per herd.

BEEP-S programme actions are as follows:

Mandatory weighing action: €50 per first 10 cow/calf weighings per herd (and €40 per cow/calf weighing thereafter). This action measures the ratio of calf weight at weaning to maternal weight, enabling farmers to readily identify their most economic and environmentally efficient suckler cows in their herd;
Optional action: €30 for an additional welfare action, with a choice of either a vaccination programme or a pre-weaning meal feeding programme;
Optional action: €10 for a further option – participation in a faecal egg testing programme. This action is targeted at the control of liver and rumen fluke in adult suckler cows, improving animal health and welfare.

A suckler herd of 20 can avail of up to €1,700 for full participation in the options available while a herd of 40 can avail of up to €3,300.

The maximum payment is for 100 cow/calf pairs with a total payment of €8,100 based on participation in the options available, the department says.