The new €100-per-cow suckler payment needs to be opened immediately, IFA livestock chairman Henry Burns has said.

The Irish Farmers Journal exclusively reported on many of the details which will form the BGS last week.

While there will be €100/cow payment for the first 10 calved cows in the herd, reducing to €80/cow on the subsequent calved cows, farmers are likely to be required to have 20% of the suckler herd bred from four- or five-star sires by 2017/2018. There are also likely to be other entry requirements such as data recording and training days.

“The EU has given the go-ahead for this scheme and applications should be sent out to all suckler farmers without any further delay so as to make sure payments of €100 and €80 per cow are made by year end,” Burns said.

“IFA has had a number of meetings with the Department (of Agriculture) on the scheme and we have written to Minister Coveney expressing serious concerns that the criteria and conditions around the scheme have been over complicated and will swallow up a large amount of the financial benefit to the farmer in additional and unnecessary costs,” Burns added.

The Department of Agriculture received a letter of comfort from the European Commission which clears the way for the opening many schemes like the Beef Genomics Scheme.