Farmers have only days left to submit a completed carbon navigator under the Beef Data Genomics Programme (BDGP).

The deadline for farmers to submit a completed carbon navigator is November 30.

As of November 22, 17% of farmers had yet to submit their completed carbon navigators, figures from the Department show.

In October, the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, extended the deadline for the completion of the carbon navigators by one month to November 30 to enable all participants to complete the navigators so that payment can issue to them in December, subject to all other requirements [of the programme] having been met.

It is understood that payments under the Genomics Programme are to begin issuing in mid-December.

It is expected that the 2016 budget of €52m for the programme will be ‘fully consumed’ by year end.

The carbon navigator is an online farm management package produced by Bord Bia and Teagasc that quantifies the environmental gains that can be made on an individual’s farm.

The first completion of the carbon navigator must be undertaken in conjunction with an approved advisor.

The Department will cover the cost of the approved advisor for the completion of the Carbon Navigator, while the farmer’s cost is incorporated into the annual genomics payment.

The carbon navigator is an online farm management package produced by Bord Bia and Teagasc that quantifies the environmental gains that can be made on an individual’s farm.