The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has said that there will be flexibility given to farmers in terms of picking actions in year one of the Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS).
One action that has proved popular in the Sheep Welfare Scheme was that of scanning ewes, an option which is once again available for farmers to choose in the SIS.
However, as the majority of farmers scan their ewes in January, they would be unable to carry out this action as the scheme start date in 2023 is February 1.
Agriland sought clarification around this and if there would be flexibility given to farmers.
The DAFM gave the following response:
The scheme year for the Sheep Improvement Scheme will commence on February 1 and end on December 31, 2023, with year two of the scheme running from January 1 until December 31, 2024.
The department wants to move away from the scheme year being split across two calendar years to reduce the risk of farmers not complying with the scheme requirements, as this is an issue that was identified during inspections.
The department will write to all farmers that have selected the scanning action to remind farmers that the actions must be completed between February 1 and December 31, 2023.
However, the department will also give these farmers an opportunity to change their actions for year one of the scheme, if they so wish.
Farmers can also select the genotyped ram action in year 1, which would replace the scanning action for that year.