The Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) saw over 20,000 applications by its closing date of May 22.
Each of these farmers will have a cow reference number which they must either maintain, or if they wish, reduce by no less that 20%, for duration of the five-year programme. However, they cannot increase the figure.
Each farmer received a programme reference number based on the number of eligible suckler cows producing an eligible calf on their holding in the years 2016-2021 inclusive, from which the applicant is presented with the average of the best three years.
The programme reference number must be set by the applicant at the beginning of the SCEP programme, and they can accept – but cannot increase – the programme reference number presented at the time of application, or can reduce it down.
This means that the average reference number of cows nationwide across all SCEP applicants, as well as the average for each county, can be determined, and it paints an interesting picture in terms of suckler herd size in each county.
Nationwide, the average reference figure is about 26.38.
Co. Waterford is the county with the highest average reference figure among its 246 applicants, at 36.46.
This was followed by Co. Kilkenny, with an average reference figure of 35.87 among its 472 applicants. Co. Laois saw the third-highest average reference figure, at 34.18 among its 463 applicants.
Co. Leitrim had the lowest average reference figure, at 16.77 (785 applicants), while Co. Donegal had the second lowest figure at 16.83 (1,080 applicants) and Co. Mayo the third lowest, at 18.74 (1,928 applicants).
Of the 26 counties, 11 had an average reference figure above 30, 11 had an average reference figure between 20 and 30, and four had an average reference number below 20.
The average reference number of cows for each county (as well as slightly updated application figures) are outlined in the table below:
County Applications Average ref. number Carlow 270 30.60 Cavan 1,008 22.02 Clare 1,808 23.94 Cork 1,549 23.48 Donegal 1,080 16.83 Dublin 54 26.63 Galway 2,456 22.08 Kerry 1,071 20.55 Kildare 225 32.20 Kilkenny 472 35.87 Laois 463 34.18 Leitrim 785 16.77 Limerick 612 25.60 Longford 659 23.56 Louth 165 26.50 Mayo 1,928 18.74 Meath 482 32.11 Monaghan 780 21.02 Offaly 440 30.35 Roscommon 1,207 22.14 Sligo 811 18.77 Tipperary 840 30.63 Waterford 246 36.46 Westmeath 657 30.17 Wexford 412 34.09 Wicklow 305 30.67
The actual reference figure for each individual farmer will be rounded up to the nearest whole number.
Under the scheme rules, farmers will, strictly speaking, be paid on a per-hectare basis, rather than a per-cow basis.
Farmers who are accepted into this scheme will receive €225/ha on the first 15ha and €180/ha on the remaining hectares.
The reference cow number is divided by 1.5 in order to give the maximum payable area. Applying this to the nationwide average reference cow number, it means that the nationwide average maximum payable area is 17.59ha/applicant.
Because the reference cow number is used to determine the per-hectare payment, it is possible to express the payment rates in terms of cow numbers (although the scheme terms and conditions do not mention payment rates per cow).
Eligible farmers will effectively be receiving €150/cow on the first 22 cows, and €120/cow on the remaining cows.