Farmers have just two weeks left to submit their completed carbon navigator which is a key requirement in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP).

The deadline for the submission of carbon navigators is Monday, October 31 and farmers who fail to meet the deadline could face penalties.

Participants in the scheme must get in contact with a trained adviser to complete the carbon navigator and a full list of advisers is available on the Department of Agriculture’s website.

Once an appointment is made, the process of completing the carbon navigator should take about two hours to carry out, the Department says.

Meanwhile, the adviser will also provide farmers with an overview of the benefits associated with reaching the individual targets set out in the navigator.

The Department will cover the cost of the approved adviser for the completion of the Carbon Navigator with the farmer’s cost incorporated into the annual Genomics payment.

Farmers will be expected to complete the navigator in each of the following years, either in the same manner as this year or online.

The navigator will show the environmental gains that can be made on an applicant’s farm by setting targets in key areas such as grassland management, according to the Department.

The carbon navigator allows individual farmers to look at changes which can be made on their farm in areas such as the length of the grazing season or their average calving rate.

The navigator then translates what these changes would mean in terms of reduced greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from his/her herd and the increased profitability associated with such a change.

The Genomics Programme was introduced in 2015 as part of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme and it is a world first in terms of bringing genomic technology to beef farmers.

Further details regarding the requirement to complete the carbon navigator can be found on the Department’s website at www.agriculture.gov.ie or by contacting the Beef Schemes Section either at 076 1064423 or by e-mail at [email protected].