Testing for infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) is not expected to feature in the new suckler scheme, according to the chair of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Livestock Committee.
Declan Hanrahan made the comments at a meeting on a farm in Quin, Co. Clare last night (Wednesday, May 29) as part of the association’s “Enough is Enough” campaign.
He said the new welfare scheme, which will replace the National Beef Welfare Scheme (NBWS), will have a budget of €20 million and will be funded through the Irish Exchequer.
IBR testing was among the two required actions for farmers who took part in the NBWS last year, along with meal feeding.
Hanrahan said that IFA was very much against the inclusion of IBR testing in the 2023 scheme as “the money was not staying with the farmer, it was leaking out to third parties”.
“You had to pay the lab, you had to pay the vet to do the test, so you actually had nothing out of it for yourself,” he said.
Suckler scheme
According to Hanrahan, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) proposal for the new suckler scheme is a €50/animal payment, up to 40 animals.
He said that this scheme payment will include two measures: €35/animal for meal feeding and €15/animal for vaccinating animals.
“The good thing about vaccination is it’s clostridial vaccination or respiratory vaccination so a lot of the farmers are doing it already,” he said.
Hanrahan said that the scheme is expected to be available for all suckler-bred calves born between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024.
He told the meeting that the department had also proposed a €400 payment for farmers to carry out a herd health plan, which the IFA said should be “an optional extra” so it “wouldn’t be taking money out of the pocket of farmers”.
The IFA Livestock chair said they are expecting an announcement from DAFM on the new scheme “fairly shortly”.
He added that the farm organisation will continue to seek an increase on the cap on animal numbers, particularly for farmers with suckler herds with 60-70 cows.
Beef prices
Hanrahan told the meeting that it has been a difficult spring for beef farmers which has been compounded by factories cutting prices.
“That was no need for the factories to do what they did in the last month cause they knew the farmers were under both financial pressure and weather pressure,” he said.
The IFA is predicting that there could be in the region of 70,000 less cattle in the system between now and the end of the year available to factories which should “drive on” prices.
Hanrahan urged farmers not to accept the first offer they receive from procurement managers, “because there’s more in the pot”.
“They’re not leaving any cattle behind them. We’ve seen the mart prices as well, the way they’re fighting for cattle,” he said.