The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said that the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) opened by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue today (Monday March 20) is a vital part of the targeted supports for suckler farmers.
SCEP is a scheme that aims to provide support to beef farmers to improve the environmental sustainability of the national beef herd.
The programme aims to build on the gains delivered in recent years through the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) and the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme (BEEP) by improving the genetic merit of the Irish suckler herd.
IFA Livestock chair Brendan Golden said that SCEP must be built upon with the funding announced in Budget 2023 through the replacement scheme for Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme – Sucklers (BEEP-S).
He said the inclusion of Bord Bia Quality Assurance as an eligibility criterion is “frustrating” as this is a market requirement and it “would be more appropriate that it’s rewarded from the market place rather than being imposed”.
“Bord Bia [has] a huge job of work to do in facilitating suckler farmers in joining SBLAS [Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme] and ensuring the scheme requirements of membership of SBLAS is provided by October 16,” he said.
The IFA Livestock chairman said the targets for farmers in this scheme are ambitious and it is critical that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine provides maximum flexibilities to assist farmers in achieving them.
The IFA said that it had raised concerns in relation to the requirement for numbers of calves born to four- and five-star bulls in 2023 on participant farms and recognised the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) provision of a derogation from this in the first year of the scheme.
“Minister McConalogue must confirm all who apply and meet the eligibility requirements, are accepted into it and paid in full on all of their cows,” Golden said.
“This commitment was given to me by the minister on his CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] tour of the marts in 2021 and must be honoured.”
Golden said it is important every effort is made to maximise suckler farmer participation in the scheme and there can be no question as to the levels of funding to pay all farmers in full.