Latest news with #SucklerCarbonEfficiencyScheme
Agriland
01-08-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Its a No Brainer Why Every Farmer Should Join the Ngp
Joining the NGP helped this Laois farmer increase genetic gain in his herd Robin Talbot farming in partnership with his wife Anne and mother Pam, runs a large 220-cow, autumn-calving suckler and beef herd in Coole, Co. Laois. They place a large emphasis on utilising grass and operate a paddock system. They produce all of their own feed, including winter barley, oats and wheat. Up to 15 years ago, Robin had been purchasing all of their replacement heifers in local marts. While this did work quite well for them, he was noticing that 10-15% of the animals purchased did not perform as well as he would have liked. As a result, Robin opted to start breeding their own replacements. He said: 'Over a period of a few years, we went totally into Stabilisers. "So now we are breeding our own replacements and keeping our own replacements and the genetics in our herd seems to be improving. "The two really important factors for us are easy calving and growth rate.' Over the past five years, the Replacement Index of Robin's herd has seen a notable improvement from €103 in 2020 to €134 in 2025. The herd currently sits in the top 5% nationally. The calving season on Robin's farm begins in July and continues through to October. All of the maiden heifers on the farm calve down between 22 and 26 months-of-age. In terms of breeding, Robin runs seven stock bulls with the herd. When it comes to selecting stock bulls, he aims to strike a balance between the replacement and terminal traits. Calving ease is his number one priority. 'One of the advantages or upsides of easy calving, the herd has become extremely fertile and also the cows cycle very quickly after calving. We would typically turn our bulls out to calves on October 20," he said. Robin signed up to the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Scheme (SCEP) in 2023 and finds it works really well for the herd. The information he gets from participating in the scheme allows him to make the most informed decisions to improve the genetic gain and traits of importance for the herd. "I think it's excellent. Information is key in our job. We can readily identify the good cows and the poor performers." Having the genomic information available gives Robin a clear understanding of the star ratings of his female animals and how well they align with the female eligibility requirements of the Suckler Scheme. This allows him to make more informed breeding and selection decisions prior to his breeding season. When the opportunity arose for him to join the National Genotyping Programme (NGP, he did not hesitate to take part. He explained: 'To me, it seemed like a no-brainer because it was fast-tracking the genomic knowledge of my herd.' At the start of the programme, any un-genotyped females and stock bulls in the herd were genotyped free of charge. While this took a day or two to do with boxes of tags and cows in the crush, they developed a good system to complete the task. Robin Talbot on his Co. Laois farm. Source: ICBF By participating in the NGP, Robin benefits from a significant labour-saving advantage by using double tissue tags. This allows him to take both the BVD and DNA sample from the calves soon after birth. Genotyping the calves at birth eliminates the need for Robin to handle and bring animals back in at a later stage. As he runs a number of stockbulls with the herd, DNA calf registration ensures the correct sire is registered to each calf born and helps to eliminate any risk of inbreeding. Robin said: 'I think every suckler farmer should be in it. "Regardless of how many cows you have, it's important to know the genetics of those cows. Genetics is where the future is." In the height of the busy calving season, Robin makes a conscious effort to post DNA samples to the lab for testing two to three times a week. This results in Robin receiving the passports for his calves within 12-14 days after sending away the samples. Genotyping through SCEP and now, NGP, has allowed Robin to identify his top-performing heifers early on, enabling him to select the best candidates for breeding future replacement stock and increasing genetic gain within his herd. Joining the NGP has helped Robin to increase genetic gain in his herd, make more informed breeding decisions to produce high quality animals and reduce labour on his farm. Applications for the National Genotyping Programme are now open. For further information, please call the Herdplus team on 023-8820452.
Agriland
31-07-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Appeal finds 'insufficient' notification of SCEP changes
The Agriculture Appeals Office has found that insufficient notification was given by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) around changes to the terms and conditions of the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Scheme (SCEP). The finding was made following an appeal lodged by a farmer who said he was not aware of the change in the terms and conditions when he was applying for the scheme. During an oral hearing, the farmer explained that he had set his programme reference in accordance with the original terms and conditions and as set out by the department at SCEP information meetings. The farmer said there was no indication on the terms and conditions of their date of publication, while the version on the DAFM website did not state it was an amended version. The farmer added that there was no reason to suspect that an amendment had been included relating to the calculation of the programme reference. The department stated that the original terms and conditions for SCEP, published on March 21, 2023, allowed new entrants to declare a programme reference and yearly reference of their own choosing at application stage. The oral hearing was told that the farmer who had made the appeal chose a reference of 100. DAFM said the terms of the scheme were amended on May 11, 2023 and stated that the programme reference chosen by the new entrant should reflect the number of eligible suckler cows that they estimate will produce an eligible calf in scheme year 1. The department informed the herdowner that his reference number was reduced to 63. DAFM noted that the minister for agriculture has the right to alter terms and conditions and that the amended version was uploaded to the department website and that updated instructionswere given on the online application. In deciding to allow the farmer's appeal, the appeals officer said that the information provided by the department was not consistent between information meetings, the original terms and conditions and the online application instructions. "Notification to stakeholders was insufficient and the lack of dated versions of the terms and conditions made it difficult to identify amendments. "Both farmers and their advisors worked on the basis of the information provided at the information meetings and were not aware of the amendment," the Agriculture Appeals Office annual report said. Established in 2002, the Agriculture Appeals Office provides an appeals service to farmers who are not satisfied with decisions of DAFM concerning designated schemes operated by the department. 483 appeals were made by farmers in relation to farm schemes in 2024, down from 624 in the previous year. SCEP was the scheme with the highest number of appeals last year at 104. This was followed by 67 appeals for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) Scheme and 47 each for the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) and the Shannon Callows Flood Scheme. Of the appeals which were allowed or partially allowed in 2024, 36 were SCEP appeals, 25 related to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and 23 were for TAMS. Among the appeals that were disallowed there were 78 related to SCEP.
