Just under 300 farmers will receive a letter and be removed from the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) in the coming days, according to Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
The head of direct payments division at DAFM, David Buckley spoke about the programme at the Agricultural Consultants’ Association (ACA) annual general meeting (AGM) yesterday (Thursday, March 7).
Buckley said that farmers missed out due to failing three or more actions.
He told the AGM that there is still around 17,300 in the scheme, covering around 436,000 suckler cows.
By December 2023, €47 million was paid out under the scheme to just over 15,000 participants.
Buckley said there was approximately 1,500 that didn’t get paid, who will see payment in the coming days.
The compulsory online training under the programme, which has seven modules will be launched by the end of the month.
The DAFM training must be completed by November 15, or applicants may face being removed from the scheme, according to Buckley.
The mandatory actions that must be completed before joining the scheme include rules on the following:
- Eligible bull/Eligible artificial insemination (AI);
- Female replacement strategy:
- Genotyping;
- Weighing and submission of weights to Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF);
- Calving details and surveys.
Payments for SCEP will begin in mid December 2024.
Buckley reminded farmers to ensure that they calve down 50% of their reference number annually or they will also face being removed from the programme.
Dairy beef scheme
Buckley also confirmed that applications for the Dairy Beef Scheme in the common agricultural policy (CAP) Strategic Plan will open later this month.
The new scheme will run for four years, at €6.25 million a year.
The aim of the scheme is to improve the value of dairy beef calves through incentivising the use of genetically superior beef AI/stock bulls in the dairy herds.
The scheme will pay €20 per straw to a max of 40 straws.
Payments for the scheme will be made on March 25 on the following year of application.
DAFM schemes
Other schemes discussed by DAFM representatives at the ACA event included the National Beef Welfare Scheme.
The earliest applications will open towards the end of July.
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.
Buckley reminded farmers of changes to the Knowledge Transfer Programme.
To allow for an increased number of one to one meetings, they will now be able to take place on a Saturday. The guideline remains in place for meetings not to take place on a Sunday.
The online system opened on January 2 and the deadline for taking part is March 31.
Buckley said a “general mistake” that crops up is farmers applying through BISS correspondence, while applications should be made through the agricultural food portal.
Participants should apply for the programme using the herd number under which their BISS application is made, except for Registered Farm Partnership.
Where participants are members of a Registered Farm Partnership (RFP), applications must be made under the individual herd numbers.
Buckley added that payments for year one of the Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS) will be made in late May.
There will also be a new national sheep welfare scheme to open in early April, which is still subject to “deep approval”.
Payments are expected in November.