Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has announced the launch of the new Sheep Welfare Scheme which provides funding of up to €25m for Irish sheep farmers in 2017.

Based on the most recent agriculture census in Ireland, the funding works out at around €10/ewe.

Speaking at the launch, the minister said the scheme was "a key commitment in the Programme for Partnership Government and we have worked extremely hard over the last six months to bring it to fruition".

Detail

Delving into the detail of the scheme, the minister outlined that it will provide support of €10/ewe to farmers for undertaking actions which make a positive contribution to flock welfare.

The Department says the scheme has taken into account the different challenges faced by sheep farmers in lowland and in hill areas and has "struck a balance in this regard".

We are now moving to the implementation phase of this scheme

Under the scheme farmers will be required to choose actions which can improve the overall welfare of a flock. These actions will be chosen from a menu from which farmers must choose two actions, based on whether the farmer has a lowland flock or hill flock. These actions must be completed over a 12 month period. In return the farmer will receive a payment of €10 per breeding ewe, depending on the average number of ewes held on their farm in the years 2014 and 2015.

The actions for the scheme are outlined below. Farmers will either be in the hill or lowland sector and must choose one action from category A and one action from category B.

As part of the scheme, the farmer is required to maintain the reference number of ewes which will form part of the inspection process.

New entrants

There is provision for new entrants to join where they do not have 2014/15 ewe numbers on which to base a reference number. A new entrant to this scheme is defined as an applicant who has applied for a new herd number from 1 January 2016 and before the closing date of the scheme in 2017 or an applicant with an existing herd number who has not held or traded in sheep for a two year period up to 31 October preceding the scheme year.

Listen to interviews with Minister Creed and sheep farmers at the launch of the scheme in Kenmare mart:

Listen to "New sheep scheme launched in Kenmare" on Spreaker.

Implementation phase

Concluding the minister said: “We are now moving to the implementation phase of this scheme and my Department will shortly issue an application form and the terms and conditions to all sheep farmers. I would urge all farmers to study this information carefully and to note that the deadline for applying for the scheme will be the 31 January 2017. To assist farmers my Department will be running a series of information meetings around the country in January where they can find out all the necessary information on the scheme.”

See the list of meeting dates below (all meetings to commence at 8pm)

Reactions

The announcement attracted positive online reactions from Irish farmers, including Farmer Writes contributor Kieran Sullivan who can avail of it even though he had not started farming during the reference year. Some doubted that payment would be available within the next year, though.

Overseas farmers were more ironic, with some implying that the actions to be performed under the scheme would attract payments without adding much to existing good sheep husbandry.

Read more

Creed outlines timeline for sheep scheme rollout in 2017