January 20th 2001

Return Reconciliation Forms as quickly as possible

By Peter Young

Farmers who have received their herd reconciliation forms should return these as quickly as possible. Already the number of returned forms have passed the half way mark.

However, the Department is pushing to ensure that all the 130,000 forms that were sent out are returned to ensure that the Computerised Movement Monitoring Scheme (CMMS) is fully operational.

If animals are not confirmed in your herd they are deemed to be non-CMMS cattle. In the future it will not be possible to draw beef or suckler premias on these animals or sell them for slaughter or live export. In addition, farmers will not be able to register these animals as dams or get a replacement passport for them.

The Department will write to farmers who have not yet returned the reconciliation form over the next week. Farmers having difficulties in filling out the forms should contact the helpline number at (023) 29190. Lines are open until 7pm.

At the peak the helpline dealt with 2,200 calls but the number of calls have started to subside. Over the last few days 1,800 farmers a day have been calling the help line.

In most cases, the problem centres on animals that were registered in 1998/99 and were missing from the form. Maiden heifers on which no premium was claimed were automatically excluded.