The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has described the extended Bord Bia certification deadline under the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) as “common sense”.
ICSA president Dermot Kelleher said that many suckler farmers were in danger of not qualifying for the SCEP as they were in risk of not getting the certification process completed on time.
The extension means that farmers in SCEP must have applied for Bord Bia’s Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS) by October 16, but now have until January 22, 2024, to become certified.
“The SCEP scheme will be worth a payment of €15,000 over the next five years to a suckler farmer with 20 eligible cows.
“In my view, it’s a lot of money to leave behind due to fears over the Bord Bia scheme and the old adage comes to mind – if you’re not in, you can’t win,” the ICSA president said.
SBLAS certification
He said the ICSA has always been adamant that tying a suckler scheme to Bord Bia is “fundamentally wrong on several fronts”, however added:
“The rule is now written in stone, and we have to face the fact that many farmers have already signed up for this, so our objective now is to get all the money available to farmers.
“I understand why many suckler farmers have a deep-seated reluctance to enter the SBLAS, particularly if they are selling most of their stock in the mart.
“However, I would ask that farmers should not give up on the payment worth €150/head on the first 22 cows without at least trying to get into the SBLAS scheme.”
Kelleher said some of the “previous problems” with Quality Assurance schemes have been “ironed out” and farmers now don’t fail on inspection but can rectify any shortcomings.
He added that the inspection process now takes less time than previously, and some farmers are making the process easier by hiring professionals to do the advance preparation.
Some farmers find software packages on their phone can be a big help around animal remedy records, he said, adding that the ICSA will provide advice to members who want to discuss the options.