The CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme (DBWS) reopened to new applicants on Wednesday. In contrast to other CAP schemes which have opened to new entrants the DBWS has opened to all farmers giving anyone who did not participate in year one of the scheme in 2024 an opportunity to now partake.

The scheme offers farmers who satisfy the scheme requirements payment of €20 per eligible calf up to a maximum of 50 calves per holding.

The scheme is focused on incentivising improved breeding of beef calves from the dairy herd and contains one mandatory action.

Applicants are required to have calves born on their holding in the scheme year which must be sired by a bull which has a minimum of a three-star rating on the Dairy Beef Index (DBI) on a within and/or across breed basis.

The sire must also have a minimum of three-star rating on the Beef Sub Index of the DBI on a within and/or across breed and all sires must be genotyped – i.e. have a genomic evaluation.

The closing date for applications is 23.59hrs on 15 May 2025. Applications must be submitted on the Department of Agriculture’s agfood.ie facility by an applicant or a Farm Advisory System (FAS) adviser approved to act on an applicant’s behalf.

Eligible cow and calf

The terms and conditions of the scheme define eligibility criteria for both the dam and calf.

An “eligible cow” shall mean a cow that:

  • Belongs to a dairy breed or is sired by a dairy breed.
  • Is properly tagged, registered, and recorded in accordance with AIM rules. EC Regulation 1760/2000 refers.
  • Gives birth to a calf (dead or alive) in the applicant’s herd which is tagged and registered to that cow in accordance with EU Regulation 1760/2000. Any movement of the calf must comply with the legal requirement on farm to farm and farm to export movements.

    • An “eligible calf” shall mean a calf that:

  • Is born on the holding within a scheme year for which the applicant is an active participant in the CSP Dairy Beef Scheme having submitted an application within that scheme year or a previous scheme year and has not been removed or withdrawn from the scheme.
  • Is a male or female calf sired by a beef breed sire born to a dairy dam.
  • Has been tagged and registered with the Department’s Registration Agency, Clonakilty, Co Cork within 27 days of birth in accordance with EU Regulation 1760/2000. It is not sufficient to post the registration form on day 27.

    • Government commitment

    In announcing the opening Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon said “this scheme, which facilitates an annual opening for new applicants, demonstrates the commitment of this Government to supporting greater integration of the dairy and beef herds to improve the quality, welfare and viability of male calves from dairy herds”.

    The DBWS has a budget of €25 million over four years (2024 – 2027) and is co-funded by the European Union as part of the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan. The Department outlined that payments totalling €4.73m were issued last month to 7,612 farmers who applied to participate in the scheme in 2024.

    Applicants to the scheme in 2024, do not need to reapply to the scheme as their application will automatically roll over to 2025. It added that “farmers who apply for the scheme in 2025 will be eligible for payment for 2025, 2026 and 2027, farmers who apply for the scheme in 2026 will be eligible for payment for 2026 and 2027, and farmers who apply in 2027 will be eligible for payment in 2027 only, subject to compliance with scheme terms and conditions”.

    Payments will be made to eligible participants in the March following the scheme year end e.g. Payments for Scheme Year 2 (01 January 2025 to 31 December 2025) will be made in March 2026 to eligible applicants who satisfy the scheme requirements.

    Weighing scheme

    As already mentioned the scheme follows on from the recent announcement of the opening of the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme which has a national exchequer-funded budget of €4m.

    This scheme also offers farmers the opportunity to draw down support of €20 per calf up to a maximum of 50 calves in return for weight recording. Eligible calves include a male calf of a dairy breed, and/or a male or female calf sired by a beef breed sire born to a dairy breed dam.

    The minister said “In addition to the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme, a sum of €4 million was allocated in Budget 2025 for the implementation of the exchequer-funded National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme which is also open for applications via agfood.ie until 15 May 2025, further proving this Government’s commitment to support this sector.”