The payment rate under the new Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS) has been heavily criticised by one farm organisation, which described it as an “insult to sheep farmers”.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) said that the rate of €12 per eligible breeding ewe on offer is “woefully inadequate”.
Sean McNamara, the association’s sheep chairperson, commented: “CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] payments are supposed to support farmers, not make a mockery of them.
“€12 per breeding ewe is an insult in this day and age – particularly now as we are watching our costs rise on an almost daily basis.
“During the CAP negotiations, the ICSA demonstrated how a €35/head ewe payment was possible through a combination of a coupled payment and better financing of the sheep scheme,” McNamara added.
He said that sheep farmers “have yet to get a look in at the Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group”.
This, McNamara remarked, “reflects the lack of respect and attention given to the sector”.
“All the while individual sheep farmers are becoming less and less economically viable and can’t see a way to stay going.”
“This is a real shame for a sector that has a lot to offer in terms of its less intensive, biodiversity friendly systems of farming and its low carbon stamp,” he said.
The ICSA sheep chair added: “It is very short-sighted not to incentivise sheep farmers to keep doing what they are doing, rather than switch to a system of farming that may be more profitable, but ultimately less environmental sustainable.”
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue announced on Tuesday (November 22) that farmers can now apply for the SIS.
The €20 million scheme will replace the current Sheep Welfare Scheme (SWS) in 2023 under the new CAP.
The new payment rate under the scheme of €12 per eligible breeding ewe is an increase from the €10 per eligible breeding ewe under the SWS.