This week will be vital for all participating in suckler schemes, suckler farmers have been reminded.
Highlighting the matter for farmers, Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) suckler chairman Ger O’Brien first pointed to the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP), stating:
“BDGP participants must ensure that 50% of their reference number are eligible genotyped, 4/5 star females over 16 months-of-age on October 31 [this coming Saturday].
Failure to meet this target leaves a potential penalty of 140% of a full year’s payment.
“Farmers can still purchase these animals, but they must be transferred to the herd by October 31,” the chairman warned.
Turning to the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme – Suckler (BEEP-S) scheme, O’Brien said:
“Suckler farmers participating in the BEEP-S scheme must ensure that cow and calf pairs are weighed by October 31 at the latest.
“Farmers need to submit these results within seven days of weighing which means they must be in before November 7.
This is worth €50/cow on the first 10 cows and €40/cow thereafter to a maximum 100 cows. There is an additional optional €30/cow for feeding meal pre-weaning and post-weaning or vaccinating against pneumonia.
“Records have to be kept in relation to these.
“In particular, the records will have to show that calves were fed for a minimum four weeks before weaning and two weeks afterwards.”
Continuing, O’Brien noted that there is an additional €10/cow for taking dung samples to analyse for parasites and samples must be submitted to an approved laboratory before November 1.
“A minimum 10 separate samples must be submitted to a maximum 100. In practice, 10 samples will suffice to give a good picture for the average suckler herd but large herds may choose to do more,” the chairman concluded.