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Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has confirmed there are almost 7,000 BDGP (Beef Data and Genomics Programme) genomic samples outstanding.
“To date, 306,000 samples have been returned for the 2017 Programme year,” the minister said.
“Of the 24,800 active participants in the programme, 1,017 applicants have not returned 6,955 genomic samples.”
The scheme was designed to accelerate the genetic advancement of the national herd, and genomic sampling is a key feature.
Scheme requirement
The requirements of the scheme stipulate that genomic tissue sampling accounts for 10% of the total BDGP payment, while the genotyping accounts for 15% of the payment.
Penalties could be applied to non-compliant farmers, however the rules for farmers with smaller herds were revised recently to make them more flexible for farmers with fewer than 11 animals.
However, the original deadline for returning BDGP samples was 7 December last year, and farmers who have not yet submitted samples are urged to do so as quickly as possible.
According to the Department, 21,768 farmers in BDGP I and II have been paid almost €39m for 2017.
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