Chair of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) livestock committee, Michael O'Connell has called for the additional dairy beef payment as part of Budget 2025 to be given to the calf rearer, and not necessarily the breeder.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) introduced an extra €20/calf extra for Dairy Beef Scheme in the new budget, doubling the payment to €40/calf.

O'Connell has called on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon to announce the details on the additional payment.

“While the additional funding is small, it’s welcome, and it’s hugely important that the details around this extra payment – and who’ll receive it – are published quickly so that interested farmers can make informed decisions," O'Connell said.

The current payment under the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme is €20 per calf up to a maximum of 50 calves sired by beef bred bulls and born to dairy cows where the breeder of the calf receives the payment once within a number of eligible criteria parameters are met.

“Ireland has seen great progress in the last number of years regarding calf quality. Technologies such as sexed semen has reduced the need for use of excess dairy straws and that has resulted in a greater focus on producing quality beef-bred calves from the dairy herd.

"There is a strong demand for our calves in the domestic and international markets, but that potential is being hampered by the relative shortage of people willing to rear the calves - which is time-consuming and expensive - and thus we need incentives for people rearing the calves," O'Connell said.

O'Connell makes the call just as calf sales are set to hit peak levels in the coming weeks, and said that the association believes that the additional payment needs to be made to the calf rearer "to acknowledge and reward the work and investment".