Farmers who applied for the Dairy Beef Calf Scheme must have the weights of their calves lodged with the ICBF by 5.30pm on Monday 1 November.

Reminding farmers of the deadline Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) livestock chair Des Morrison said that the relevant weight data must be with the ICBF no later than that time. He also said that applicants who were having difficulty navigating the ICBF website can contact ICMSA at 061-314 677 for guidance.

Morrison said that while it was a matter of record that ICMSA was disappointed with what he called the “derisory” amount allocated to the scheme, the association was still convinced that on grounds of dairy sector and beef sector integration, farmer profitability and lower emissions that the programme was worth pursuing and developing.

Commenting on the scheme Morrison said: “The ICMSA developed this idea and lobbied hard to have it introduced. We believed in it and we still believe in it.

“We want applications to be processed smoothly and for that to happen we want the relevant farmers to get on the ICBF website as soon as possible and record their weights as per the instructions.

“Weights can also be lodged by post and if there’s confusion we’d advise farmers to contact either ourselves or ICBF,” he said.