Payments to farmers who opted in to the first year of the Beef Carbon Reduction (BCR) scheme, will begin to issue from 18 March 2025, a DAERA spokesperson has confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal.

Recent estimates suggest that around 296,000 cattle slaughtered during 2024 met the eligibility requirements of the scheme.

Those requirements mainly relate to age at slaughter, with the maximum set at 30 months in 2024, dropping to 28 months in 2025.

Payments

The payment rates for eligible animals started out 2024 at £20 per head, rising to £40 in February, £60 in March and £75 thereafter. In total, around £19.8m will be issued to around 8,200 farmers, which works out at over £2,400 per farm business.

However, 672 farmers who did meet the conditions of the scheme, did not opt in and that has contributed to an under-spend in the first year.

Deductions

In total, 9% was deducted off all area-based payments in 2024 to fund the new beef scheme, creating a payment pot of around £26m.

The Department is yet to confirm what it will do with the unspent money.