Farmers participating in the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme-Sucklers (BEEP-S) who selected the voluntary faecal egg count (FEC) testing option need to take swift action if they have not submitted samples. The faeces samples must be submitted to one of the Department approved laboratories listed in the table on or before 3 October 2022.

The typical process is to contact a laboratory to request a sampling kit, which is usually sent by post. Timelines for this option are too tight at this stage and farmers will need to organise someone to collect a sampling kit and have it delivered by Monday. Many labs are working to capacity and questions are coming in regarding whether another laboratory can be used.

The Department’s terms and conditions state that if another laboratory is used that is not on the approved list, the action will be considered to have not been fully completed and will be ineligible for payment. The rate of payment is €10 per cow up to a maximum eligible number of 100 cows.

Sampling process

The Department advise that the following steps should be followed when collecting a sample of faeces;

  • Cows should be placed in a clean pen.

    Leave them undisturbed for a couple of hours, or until such time that a number of faecal deposits have been observed. If you have 10 eligible cows, all must be sampled; if you have five eligible cows, you still must submit 10 samples as the lab cannot otherwise verify that you have met the conditions of scheme

    Using gloves, collect faecal samples from at least 10 different fresh faecal deposits and place them in 10 separate containers (You must collect at least a heaped teaspoonful of faeces). Place all filled containers of faeces in the plastic ziplock bag provided.

    Post samples on the day of sampling or the following day at least. If samples are collected at the weekend, store them in cool place, preferably in a fridge not used for domestic purposes (DO NOT FREEZE OR PLACE IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT) and post on Monday.

    Samples will be pooled together and tested by the lab. One set of results will be subsequently sent to the participant by their chosen laboratory.

    Cows should be dosed based on the result of the FEC result. Applicants are advised to discuss the results of their FEC with their veterinary adviser.