Heydon confirms specifics on new suckler scheme
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has today (Tuesday, April 22) confirmed specifics on the new €28 million scheme for suckler farmers.
The budget has been increased by 40% this year and the cap on eligible calves has been lifted from 40 to 45 heads.
On announcing the payment, Minister Heydon said: 'The 2024 Beef Welfare Scheme proved to be very popular among the target population with the budget allocation fully spent and over 23,000 farmers paid for participating in it.'
The maximum payment that a farmer can receive will now rise from €2,000 to €3,375 for correctly completing three scheme actions. That's an increase of 69% in the total maximum payable.
Eligible calves include those born to eligible suckler cows in the period from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.
The scheme will open in early August, as it did in previous years, and the minister said that he is announcing the actions required in advance to 'give certainty and predictability'.
This year's scheme will consist of three measures aimed at improving on-farm efficiency:
Meal Feeding pre-weaning and post-weaning is a mandatory action at
€35/weanling;
€35/weanling; Vaccination is an optional action which participants (or their FAS advisors acting on their behalf) must select at application stage. €15/weanling;
Faecal egg testing or silage testing are optional actions which must be selected at application stage. €25/weanling.
The maximum number of calves eligible for payment per participant is 45 under each category. In the event of the scheme being oversubscribed, a reduction in the maximum number of animals eligible for payment may be applied on one or more actions.
'When coupled with the SCEP [Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme], participants in the 2025 BWS [Beef Welfare Scheme] will be eligible to receive €225 per cow/calf pair for the first 22 pairs,' Minister Heydon said.
Full details and terms and conditions of the suckler scheme will be available on the department website in advance of the scheme opening.
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