The new €28m National Beef Welfare Scheme (NBWS) contains two mandatory actions for farmers who are accepted into the scheme, one of which is IBR testing. The payment rate for the scheme, which replaces the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme – Sucklers (BEEP-S), will be €50/cow up to a maximum of 20 cows with €35/cow being paid on the remaining cows in the herd up to a maximum of 40 cows, if both actions are completed.

The requirements for meal feeding are exactly the same as BEEP-S, with calves required to be fed meal four weeks pre-weaning and two weeks post-weaning.

The payment rate for this action is €35/cow up to a maximum of 40 cows. Receipts for meal purchases will have to be retained as proof of purchase should a farmer be inspected under the scheme.

ADVERTISEMENT

The situation with autumn-born weanlings that have already been sold is that once meal receipts are kept and sale dates are in order, payment will be made.

IBR testing

The second mandatory action is a new inclusion. IBR testing will need to be carried out on animals in a suckler farmer’s herd. Up to 20 animals may be tested and the farmer will be paid €15/head for the testing up to a maximum of 20 head. These can be cows or calves. The sampling must be a blood sample and it must be completed by a vet.

IBR testing must be completed by 1 November with a likely payment date of late December for successful applicants to the scheme.

This testing will essentially give the Department of Agriculture a snapshot of the prevalence of IBR in the national suckler herd.

The scheme is open for applications via agfood.ie and the closing date for applications is Tuesday 12 September.

The actual funding farmers will receive will be closer to €40/cow. If a farmer with 40 cows applies and carries out both actions, they will be paid €1,700 for the 40 cows or €42.50/cow.

There are compliance costs to both actions. If meal is costing €400/t, and 40 calves eat 2kg/day over six weeks, that comes to a total cost of €1,344/farm, or €33.60/cow.

There are other benefits from meal feeding around weaning time, which include healthier weanlings and better performance.

If a vet charges €70 for a call out, €3.50/sample to take the blood samples and €5/head to get the sample analysed this comes to a total cost of €240/farm for 20 animals. That brings the total compliance costs for the scheme to €1,584 for this example of a 40-cow suckler farm. It means the farmer will be left with €116/farm after compliance costs or €2.90/cow.

The IFA livestock chair Brendan Golden has said the new scheme is “poorly designed”.

“The payment per farmer is far too low and on too few cows. Most of it will leak to vets, laboratories and others. The inclusion of IBR testing is a huge error of judgment by the minister,” he said.

“Suckler farmers will not be taken for fools by the minister with this pathetic offering. He must go back to the drawing board with his officials to identify practical measures that add value to our farms,” he said.