Legislation will come into effect on 1 February for compensation to be paid to farmers for the removal of BVD persistently infected (PI) calves from farms, Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture Michelle McIlveen has announced.

In her address at the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster agricultural conference in Cookstown on Saturday, Minister McIlveen said the legislation for the scheme was made earlier this week.

The timeline for the rollout of the compensation scheme remains unclear, however. The legislation comes into effect on 1 February but no commitment has been made on when the first compensation for PI calves will be paid.

Payments rates

Details of payment rates for calves have not been announced yet either. It is expected to be different flat rate payments for beef and dairy-bred calves.

The funding is coming from NI’s share of the €500m EU Exceptional Aid Package for livestock farmers announced by European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan in July.

Northern Ireland received £4m of this fund and in November Minister McIlveen announced that it would be used for PI calf compensation, a pig competitiveness scheme, a free soil analysis service and business planning training.

Speaking in Cookstown on Saturday, Minister McIlveen said the business cases for the pig competitiveness scheme and the BVD compensation scheme has been approved. However, it is unclear what stage the other two elements of the livestock aid package are at.

More than 100 delagates are in attendance at the YFCU agri conference. Three farm walks and 12 seminars are planned throughout the day at the event in Cookstown.

Further reports from the event will feature on www.farmersjournal.ie and in next week’s edition of the Irish Farmers Journal.