The Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine will issue reminder letters over the coming days by post to participants in the 2025 National Sheep Welfare Scheme (NSWS) who have been selected for an administrative check.

The letter outlines what the participant is required to return, when they must return the documents by and the potential impact of non-compliance.

An SMS text message notification is being issued to the selected herds also, to notify them new correspondence has been uploaded to their 2025 NSWS account on myagfood and is available to view.

DAFM has advised that those in receipt of a letter only should ensure that they return the requested documents as soon as possible in order to be eligible for payment.

National Sheep Welfare Scheme

Under the terms and conditions of the sheep scheme, participants are required to maintain their Scheme Action Record Sheets to record and demonstrate the completion of the actions chosen for the scheme.

These Scheme Action Record Sheets and any supporting receipts/invoices must be made available on request for inspection and/or administrative checks by the department.

Farmers are now being reminded to forward the NSWS Action Record Sheets and all associated documents and receipts for an administrative check, if the actions have been completed in line with the completion date selected by the farmer at application stage.

If the selected completion date is November 28, 2025, farmers must submit the documentation within 10 days of the completion date selected, or earlier if the actions are fully completed.

The department has outlined in correspondence that failure to produce or forward the 2025 NSWS Action Record Sheets requested will be seen as a breach of the scheme obligations, resulting in no payment for the relevant scheme year, and a 20% administrative penalty will be imposed based on the overall amount which would have been payable.

Farmers are advised to ensure the herd number, name and address are clearly marked on the NSWS Scheme Action Record Sheets before submitting it to the sheep schemes section.