Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has announced the opening of a new scheme that will pay suckler farmers €50/calf.
The National Beef Welfare Scheme (NBWS) is a support measure designed to enhance animal health and husbandry on suckler farms.
The scheme will incentivise suckler farmers in meal-feeding suckler calves in advance of and after weaning, and in testing for the presence of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) in their herds.
Both actions are mandatory for farmers who wish to participate in the scheme. Farmers who take part in the NBWS as well as the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP), will earn €200/cow-calf pair.
According to Minister McConalogue, the new scheme is important from an animal health and welfare perspective.
“We have a truly world-class suckler sector driven by farmers who are constantly looking at improving all aspects of their herd. This scheme promotes calf nutrition and herd health,” he said.
“Meal feeding is important for calves to thrive and this scheme assists farmers to cover increased costs in caring for their livestock at weaning stage,” he added.
“We are also targeting IBR because it is a highly contagious viral condition affecting cattle.
“The scheme incentivises farmers to conduct a snapshot test of their herd, to gauge its prevalence in the national herd. Based on the results, farmers can access advice on improving the IBR status of their herd,” Minister McConalogue explained.
It is intended that the results of the IBR diagnostic testing will provide each participating farmer with information on the IBR status of their herd, enabling farmers, in consultation with their veterinary practitioner, to develop a “tailored approach” to IBR as part of their herd health plan.
“Coupled with the SCEP, the NBWS will be an important income support for suckler farmers. Since my time in opposition, I promised €200 supports for suckler farmers and I am now delivering on this commitment,” the minister commented.
New suckler scheme details
Participants must introduce meal feeding for a period of four weeks pre-weaning and two weeks post-weaning to reduce calf stress at weaning time. Farmers will be paid €35 per eligible calf up to a maximum of 40 calves. Thus, farmers can receive up to €1,400 for this action.
Farmers must also get their herd tested for IBR by engaging a veterinarian to select, blood sample, and test up to 20 animals for IBR antibodies.
When a herd has 20 or more bovines, 20 must be tested. If a herd has fewer than 20 bovines, then all must be tested.
Farmers will be paid up to €300/herd on the IBR testing action, depending on the number of animals tested for IBR, bringing the maximum payment from the scheme (between both the testing and feeding actions) to €1,700/herd.
Applications must be lodged online through agfood.ie with a closing date of September 12. There is no facility for late applications because scheme actions must be completed before November 1, to allow for payments to participants to issue in mid-December.