The Department of Agriculture is fully aware of the vital role the beef sector makes to the Irish economy, the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed has said.

Speaking at Teagasc’s Beef 2016 open day in Grange, Creed said that maintaining and supporting the beef sector is one of his main priorities as Minister for Agriculture.

The Minister continued to say that the role of young farmers is particularly important, as young farmers can adapt the latest technologies that will help to drive the sector forward.

Young beef farmers can be the key drivers in the up take of new technologies, which will allow them to develop a business out of beef farming into the future.

Creed also said that he was pleased with the way the Department responded by providing incentives such as the top up for the Young Farmer Scheme under the basic payment scheme.

“We have also provided a top up under the Young Farmer Capital Investment scheme under TAMs, which is a vital tool allowing young farmers to invest in the capital infrastructure on their own farms.

Minister Creed also spoke about the importance and benefits of farm partnerships.

“I view partnerships as being vital means to enable young farmers to establish a farming business and facilitating partnerships is a policy I will continue to support.

“In 2015, my Department established a new farm partnership register.

The new register came into effect on April 1, 2015 and currently there are 1,450 farm partnerships registered on it.

“The vast majority of these farm partnerships being created are family farm partnerships.

“The recognised benefits of farming in partnership are economies of scale, work-life balance, greater land mobility and smoother inter-generational transfer,” he said.

Creed continued to say that a number of steps were taken to ensure the development of such collaborative arrangements.

“My Department and the revenue commissioners provided a number of additional benefits to registered farm partnership.

“This include preferential stock relieve, a doubling of the threshold for TAMs as well as protecting the threshold for GLAS and the ANC payment,” he said.