Farmers participating in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) will not have to face repaying money or being dropped from the scheme if they lose rented ground.
If the farmer’s eligible forage area drops below 80% of the number declared originally, they will not be paid for that year. However, unlike the previous Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP), there will be no recoupment of the farmer’s payments for previous years of the scheme by the Department.
While a farmer will receive payment if their eligible forage hectares fall between 80% and 100% of that declared, they will only receive the €225/ha payment on their remaining hectares.
Place maintained
Furthermore – and again, unlike BDGP – the farmer will hold their place in the SCEP scheme if they drop below the 80% of the declared eligible hectares. If rented land is regained or found elsewhere, they will again receive payment in the subsequent years of the scheme.
The clarification by Department of Agriculture officials came after a number of larger suckler farmers at a meeting on SCEP in Kilkenny raised concerns over the volatility of rented land they hold. The farmers asked, if they lost their rented land after entry into SCEP, would their payment be impacted?
Department inspector David Buckley noted that SCEP is “different to BDGP” in that “it’s not as hard with the penalties”.
“I know you won’t get paid, but you will not get a recoupment on previous payments. You will be allowed stay in the scheme,” he said.