Drystock farmers are facing payment cuts in this year’s National Beef Welfare and the National Sheep Welfare schemes.
Payments per animal will be less than what was announced at the time of Budget 2025, due to both schemes being oversubscribed.
The Beef Welfare Scheme will pay €67/calf, as opposed to the €75 announced by then-Minister Charlie McConalogue last year. The Sheep Welfare Scheme will pay €11.50/ewe, instead of the €13 previously indicated. Both payments are an increase on the €50/calf and €8/ewe paid in 2024. The sheep scheme payments will commence next week, with beef payments in December.
A criss-cross breeding programme is in place for producing repacements with Belclare rams joined with Suffolk-cross ewes and Suffolk rams joined with Belclare-cross ewes.
Scheme funds unable to cope with farmer demand
The National Beef Welfare Scheme (NBWS) and National Sheep Welfare Scheme (NSWS) received significant funding boosts in the pre-election Budget 2025. In the case of the beef scheme, the budget for 2025 was €28m, an increase of €8m on 2024.
Payment per calf was set at a maximum of €75, a near doubling of the previous €40/calf, with the maximum number of calves per applicant also rising from 40 to 45. The Department has confirmed that an extra 1,000 farmers have applied to the scheme. Due to the volume of applications, the payment will now be €67/calf, comprising €35 for meal feeding, €12 for vaccination (down €3) and €20 (down €5) for faecal egg count/forage analysis.
The NSWS saw a budget increase for 2025 to €22m a near 50% rise on the previous €15m. The maximum payment per ewe was raised from €8 to €13. However, the Department confirms that the scheme has been oversubscribed, so the payment will be €11.50/ewe.
Drystock farmers are facing payment cuts in this year’s National Beef Welfare and the National Sheep Welfare schemes.
Payments per animal will be less than what was announced at the time of Budget 2025, due to both schemes being oversubscribed.
The Beef Welfare Scheme will pay €67/calf, as opposed to the €75 announced by then-Minister Charlie McConalogue last year. The Sheep Welfare Scheme will pay €11.50/ewe, instead of the €13 previously indicated. Both payments are an increase on the €50/calf and €8/ewe paid in 2024. The sheep scheme payments will commence next week, with beef payments in December.
A criss-cross breeding programme is in place for producing repacements with Belclare rams joined with Suffolk-cross ewes and Suffolk rams joined with Belclare-cross ewes.
Scheme funds unable to cope with farmer demand
The National Beef Welfare Scheme (NBWS) and National Sheep Welfare Scheme (NSWS) received significant funding boosts in the pre-election Budget 2025. In the case of the beef scheme, the budget for 2025 was €28m, an increase of €8m on 2024.
Payment per calf was set at a maximum of €75, a near doubling of the previous €40/calf, with the maximum number of calves per applicant also rising from 40 to 45. The Department has confirmed that an extra 1,000 farmers have applied to the scheme. Due to the volume of applications, the payment will now be €67/calf, comprising €35 for meal feeding, €12 for vaccination (down €3) and €20 (down €5) for faecal egg count/forage analysis.
The NSWS saw a budget increase for 2025 to €22m a near 50% rise on the previous €15m. The maximum payment per ewe was raised from €8 to €13. However, the Department confirms that the scheme has been oversubscribed, so the payment will be €11.50/ewe.
SHARING OPTIONS