Farmers aged 55 and over should be eligible for a guaranteed €30,000 per year payment for 10 years, where they enter into a structured succession plan, the ICSA has proposed in its pre-budget submission.

The money would be paid from a national succession and retirement fund, which would implement a gradual succession and mentorship scheme.

In terms of day-to-day issues, the ICSA submission called for the total per-cow support under the Beef Welfare Scheme and the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) to be increased from €225 to €300.

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Such a move will require an additional €75 per calf under the Beef Welfare Scheme. Additionally, ICSA recommends raising the number of eligible calves per herd to 100.

ICSA has also called for an increase in payments per ewe to deliver €35/head across the Sheep Welfare Scheme and Sheep Improvement Scheme.

In terms of the National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme, the farm body maintained that the current €20/calf payment for rearers is inadequate and the organisation called for a re-balancing of payments between dairy and beef farmers.

Currently the dairy farmer gets €40/calf, with the rearer getting €20. ICSA has called for the total payment to be increased to €100/calf, with the rearer receiving €80 and the calf breeders getting €20. In addition, ICSA is proposing that the number of eligible calves per herd be raised to 100.

Regarding the threat posed by trees with ash dieback, the ICSA called for a payment of €500 per tree to remove those in farm hedgerows and farm roadways.