Minister McConalogue has reminded farmers in the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) that the option for deferring the nitrates reduction period will close on Monday 21 June.

“If a farmer considers they cannot meet the 5% reduction requirement by 30 June 2021, they should opt to defer and choose the later 12 month reduction period of 1 January-31 December 2021,” the minister stated.

The option to defer was opened on the 19 March 2021, with almost 6,000 BEAM participants opting to defer to-date.

“Farmers need to take a proactive approach to avoid facing penalties,” the Minister continued.

Farmers who wish to avail of the reference period deferral may do so via the BEAM portal on the department’s website along with on the BEAM bovine nitrates calculator.

Deferral option

Minister McConalogue wrote to the European Commission in January 2021 when it became apparent that the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic would lead many applicants to struggle in meeting the 5% nitrates reduction requirement within the initial extension period.

The Minister commented: “I succeeded in getting consent from the European Commission to facilitate the changing of the reference period and I am now urging farmers to use this maximum flexibility to do all they can to meet the requirements of the scheme.”

“Achieving flexibility around the BEAM reference period is a key priority of mine as I knew that a lot of farmers were in danger of missing the initial reference period.

McConalogue reassured participants that if they defer but subsequently meet the 5% reduction requirement in the original reduction period (1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021), they will be removed from the later reduction period.