The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has said that the deadline for the completion of actions under the National Sheep Welfare Scheme is “unworkable”.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed that the payment will be per eligible breeding ewe and payment for full scheme compliance will be €8/ewe, (€4/ewe/action completed).
There are four actions in the scheme and applicants must complete two actions in full, one from each category.
The scheme will run from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024, however actions selected must be completed by October 15, 2024.
Farmers must complete two actions – one from the Category A actions of shearing or body condition scoring ewes and one from the Category B actions of Clostridial vaccination of ewes or plunge dipping to control external parasite.
The department said that the deadline for applications for the scheme is May 21, 2024.
ICSA
ICSA president Sean McNamara has welcomed the opening of the scheme but was concerned about the timeframe for necessary actions to be completed.
“Setting a mid-October deadline is highly impractical for hill sheep farmers, as their livestock will still be out grazing on the mountains at that time.
“To fulfil the required actions, ewes would need to be brought down from the mountains, a task typically not undertaken until late October and into November,” he said.
“The current deadline of October 15 for the completion of actions does not align with the typical practices on hill sheep farms.
“A mid-November deadline would be more pragmatic, allowing farmers the necessary time to bring in their sheep and carry out the required actions, and we are calling on the minister to make this adjustment,” McNamara added.
“ICSA fought extremely hard to secure this additional €8 and we want as many sheep farmers as possible to benefit from it.
“Early in 2023 we were protesting outside the Dáil fighting for the very economic survival of sheep farmers up and down the country.
“We made it very clear that the €12 farmers were receiving under the Sheep Improvement Scheme was totally inadequate,” the ICSA president said.