New discussion group scheme officially launched (€750/year payment)

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, today launched the €100m Knowledge Transfer Group Scheme.

Knowledge Transfer Groups will be implemented for some 27,000 farmers across 6 sectors – Beef, Sheep, Dairy, Tillage, Equine and Poultry.

Participating farmers in the new discussion groups will be paid a total of €750 annually for each of the three years they successfully complete.

This funding is based on the standard cost approach recommended by the Commission and represents a 50% increase in payments under BTAP/STAP, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Michael Creed TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine recently visits the farm of Michael O’Connell, Macroom, Co. Cork to meet farming members of the Knowledge Transfer Programme.

Knowledge Transfer Groups will be delivered to farmers by qualified facilitators, with the first Groups expected to be approved in June.

To support the roll out of the Scheme, the Department has put in place a schedule of information sessions for farmers and facilitators as follows:

Separate Knowledge Transfer Information Sessions will be run for facilitators from 2.30pm until 4.30pm and for farmers from 7pm until 8.30pm on each day.

Eligibility criteria

• be aged eighteen years or over at date of registration.
• be the holder of an active herd number (dairy and beef) with Herd Owner Status at date of registration. Herd Keeper is not acceptable.
• be the holder of a Department Register Equine Premises Number at date of registration (equine).
• be farming a holding in respect of which a valid Basic Payment Scheme application is submitted to the Department (dairy and beef) on a yearly basis and on which all land parcels are declared.
• apply for the Knowledge Transfer Programme using the herdnumber under which their Basic Payment scheme application is made (dairy and beef).
• apply for the Knowledge Transfer Programme using their registered Equine Premises Number (equine).
• be producing and delivering milk to a registered Milk Purchaser during the 2014/2015 (dairy). Participants must be registered for ICBF’s HerdPlus at the time of application and remain registered for the duration of the Programme.
• have a suckler herd and must be registered for ICBF Beef HerdPlus service at the time of registration and remain registered for the duration of the Programme (beef).
• Nonsuckler farmers must be members of the Beef and Lamb Quality Assurance Scheme at the time of registration and remain registered for the duration of the Programme.
• have a DAFM registered Equine Premises and have a minimum of 2 breeding mares
  (equine).

Knowledge Transfer Groups must consist of between 12 members and 18 members, Variations may be allowed in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the Department and will be considered on receipt of an application from the DAFM approved Knowledge Transfer facilitator.

• Participants in the Knowledge Transfer programme shall be required to attend a minimum of five Knowledge Transfer Group meetings per year, or at least four meetings and no more than one Department accredited national event.
• Participants shall sign a standard attendance sheet within the first thirty minutes of the start of each meeting as proof of their attendance at the required number of meetings during the Programme year.
• The facilitator shall ensure that the attendance sheet is accurate and that all attendees have signed. Facilitators shall also record attendance at meetings on the Department’s online system and upload a scanned copy of the attendance sheet onto the online Knowledge Transfer system.
• Facilitators shall apply using the online Knowledge Transfer system at least FIVE working days in advance of the proposed date of each group meeting and only meetings notified in this way shall count as satisfying the requirements of the Knowledge Transfer Programme. Notification can only be made using the online Knowledge Transfer system.
• All Knowledge Transfer Group meetings shall be two hours duration and cover topics pertinent to the Knowledge Transfer Programme.
• There shall be a minimum of twenty days between each Knowledge Transfer group meeting.
• Participants attending a DAFM approved national event shall not claim credit for attending a Knowledge Transfer Group meeting on the same date.
• No more than two meetings are permitted in any twenty-four hour period.
• No meetings are permitted on Weekends or Public Holidays.
• Joint meetings are prohibited.
• No meetings can be held outside the State.
• No meetings can commence after 8pm.