The Department of Agriculture has been urged to open the new suckler farmer support scheme “without delay”.

The Irish Farmers Journal exclusively revealed earlier this month that the Beef Genomics Scheme (BGS) is to be launched shortly and would be calculated on a per-hectare basis. However, farmers would still be paid €100 for the first 10 calved cows in their herd and €80 for the remaining calved cows in the herd.

IFA livestock chairman Henry Burns said Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney needs to open the scheme as soon as possible.

“This is a very important scheme in terms of maintaining the national sucker cow herd and our €2bn quality beef sector into the future,” Burns said.

“Many member states across Europe have gone down the route of a coupled payment to protect their suckler herds and the new genomic scheme can play an important role in maintaining the herd in Ireland. It is essential that the scheme is clearly focused on maintaining cows in the suckler herd,” Burns added.

Burns said that gaining access to the scheme must not create an increased level of administration and bureaucracy for farmers.

“We have to learn from previous schemes, such as the Suckler Cow Welfare scheme. The clear lesson is that when the scheme was over complicated and the costs were excessive relative to the benefits, the scheme ran into problems, with participation falling,” he said.

The BGS has been agreed at European level and is expected to be launched in the coming weeks.