There are a number of issues with next year’s Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS) that must be tidied up before the scheme comes into effect, as farmers are facing the risk of penalty, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has said.

Association sheep chair Kevin Comiskey stated that the Department of Agriculture must resolve these issues for farmers to avoid unnecessary penalties.

Those who choose the sheep scanning action as part of the new scheme and scan in January will be penalised on their 2023 payments because the action did not take place within the new scheme year, said Comiskey.

This is because the SIS will only begin on 1 February in year one, unlike the Sheep Welfare Scheme and SIS from 2024 onwards.

Other changes to the SIS are needed in relation to the genotyping terms and conditions, which state that a second-hand genotyped ram coming from a flock receiving SIS will not fill the buying farmers’ requirement to buy in a genotyped ram.

Condition

“The condition that each ram can only be claimed once over the lifetime of the scheme must be removed,” Comiskey commented.

“Farmers commonly make decisions to replace rams for breeding purposes and if sold at a later stage, these rams must be eligible to meet the scheme criteria for the next farmer.”

The IFA also called for all hill ram breeds to be included in the DNA-verified ram option that will operate instead of genotyping in hill flocks. Currently, only the Blackface and Cheviot breeds are listed as eligible.

The sheep chair stated that flexibility is needed on the reference number of ewes for new entrants and farmers who join the scheme after its first year of operation.

Important

“It is extremely important that new entrants to the scheme be provided with a rolling reference period, which would accurately reflect the level of activity on their farms while establishing their flocks throughout the duration of the scheme,” he said.

Calls have also been made to extend the deadline for the 2023 scheme beyond 19 December to give farmers sufficient time to consider the actions laid out.