Suckler farmers will have to stretch to meet new and stricter standards in the new Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme, the Irish Farmers Journalhas learned.

CAP documents reveal that suckler farmers must have 65% of suckler cows in their herd genotyped four-star or five-star on the replacement index by 31 October 2025.

This figure increases to 75% by year five of the scheme in 2027.

The payment rate will be €150/cow for the first 10 cows and €120/cow thereafter. The controversial capping of numbers in the scheme has been removed by the Department of Agriculture. However, only 385,000 suckler cows have been earmarked for inclusion in the programme, compared to the 550,000 target for the current suckler scheme, BDGP.

The Irish suckler herd continues to decline with the latest figures showing a drop of 41,282 cows in the last 12 months.