The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed today announced that he would be extending the closing date for the new €25m Sheep Welfare Scheme.

The closing date for the receipt of applications under the Sheep Welfare Scheme has now been pushed out to Friday, February 3.

He urged any eligible sheep farmers yet to apply for the scheme to do so by the end of the week.

“The extension of the application deadline for the Sheep Welfare Scheme will allow as many applicants as possible avail of the €10 per ewe payment for farmers undertaking actions which make a positive contribution to flock welfare,” he said.

Prior to today’s announcement, the IFA had been vocal in its calls for the deadline of the scheme to be extended.

The IFA National Sheep Chairman John Lynskey had called for the closing date for applications to the Sheep Welfare Scheme to be pushed out until February 14.

Lynskey said this was a unique opportunity to maximise the number of applicants into a positive sheep scheme that is worth up to €1,300 to the average flock owner.

The IFA National Sheep Chairman believes that Minister Creed and the Department need to be targeting more than 30,000 sheep farmers and 2.5m ewes with the scheme.