The closing date for the National Beef Welfare Scheme (NBWS) has been extended to midnight on September 26.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue announced today (Friday, September 8), that the closing date has been extended to allow as many farmers as possible to apply for the scheme.
The closing date for the scheme was initially scheduled for next Tuesday (September 12).
But Minister McConalogue has also warned that it is important that farmers who want to participate in the scheme engage with their vet early, as the infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) requirement must be completed by 5:30p.m on November 1.
Farmers must undertake two mandatory actions as part of the scheme.
Participants must introduce meal feeding for a period of four weeks pre-weaning and two weeks post-weaning to reduce calf stress at weaning time.
Farmers will be paid €35 per eligible calf up to a maximum of 40 calves, meaning farmers can receive up to €1,400 for this action.
Farmers must also get their herd tested for IBR by engaging a veterinarian to select, blood sample, and test up to 20 animals for IBR antibodies.
When a herd has 20 or more bovines, 20 must be tested. If a herd has fewer than 20 bovines, then all must be tested.
At a rate of €15/animal for this action, farmers will be paid up to €300/herd on the IBR testing action, depending on the number of animals tested for IBR, bringing the maximum payment from the scheme (between both the testing and feeding actions) to €1,700/herd.
DAFM said it expects to commence payments to cleared cases in early December.
“The suckler and beef sectors play a really important role in our rural economies and direct payments are vital to support farmers in this role.
“In recognition of this I have ensured that along with substantial payments under the CAP Strategic Plan, suckler farmers can also access this national scheme in 2023,” Minister McConalogue said.
IFA
But the Irish Farmers’ Assocation (IFA) national livestock chair, Brendan Golden, has said suckler farmers “want more significant changes” to the NBWS than extensions to the closing date.
According to Golden farmers are angry about the inclusion of IBR testing in the scheme and the levels of funding available to farmers.
“The minister and his officials chose to ignore the views of farmers which IFA highlighted to him well in advance of the design of this replacement to the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme (BEEPs) and he has now got his answer with the levels of uptake,” he said.
According to Golden some farmers have no choice but to join the scheme despite the low level of funding because they are dependent on direct supports.
He wants the NBWS requirements to be amended to include “practical, easy to implement measures that add value for suckler farmers with minimal leakage” and that funding levels must be increased to deliver €300/cow for all suckler cows.