The Department of Agriculture would like to see over 20,000 farmers join the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP), Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, he gave a guarantee that all farmers who join the scheme will get the full payment, as outlined in the terms and conditions.

“I am very passionate about the suckler sector and I see this as being one of the most important programmes in underpinning farm incomes and future-proofing our suckler herd.

“We took a look at the budget and pushed it as far as we could and that’s why we increased the €150/cow payment to the first 22 cows as opposed to the first 10.”

Farmers’ thoughts are also turning to the €28m in funding that the minister announced in Budget 2023.

He said that the Department of Agriculture would hope to have that scheme finalised in the next four weeks and that the €28m was ringfenced for suckler farmers.

“I promised €200/suckler cow in supports as part of my election manifesto and I’m going to deliver that,” he said.

On the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme, Minister McConalogue said he would monitor the situation and participation levels and didn’t rule out a dairy beef payment to beef farmers in a scheme in the future.

Reaction

Most farm organisations have welcomed the opening of the SCEP scheme. Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, IFA livestock chair Brendan Golden said: “The inclusion of Bord Bia quality assurance as an eligibility criterion is frustrating as this is a market requirement and it would be more appropriate that it’s rewarded from the marketplace rather than being imposed.”

IFA had raised concerns in relation to the requirement for numbers of calves born to four- or five-star bulls in 2023 on participant farms and recognised the Department provision of a derogation from this in the first year of the scheme.

ICSA president Dermot Kelleher said there is still a lot of anger about the compulsory Bord Bia quality assurance scheme membership condition for entry to the new suckler efficiency programme.

He said: “Many suckler farmers stand to gain little or nothing for being in the SBLAS except another day lost to inspections every 18 months. We now need to start thinking how the new scheme, on top of the outgoing BDGP can be leveraged to benefit suckler beef in the marketplace.”

The ICSA wants to see the suckler brand work being ramped up by Bord Bia with buy-in from meat factories, he said.