AN enhanced €28m support scheme for the suckler beef sector was launched this week.
The 2025 Beef Welfare Scheme has a budget of €28m and will focus on practical measures to enhance animal health and husbandry on suckler farms.
It will allow suckler farmers to receive €225 per cow/calf pair for the first 22 pairs.
There will be three actions that participants are required to do to obtain a scheme payment.
Action One – Meal Feeding pre-weaning and post-weaning is a mandatory action.
Action Two – Vaccination is an optional action which participants (or their FAS advisors acting on their behalf) must select at application stage.
Action Three – Faecal egg testing or silage testing are optional actions which must be selected at application stage.
A total of 45 calves will be eligible for payment per participant. In the event of the scheme being oversubscribed, a reduction in the maximum number of animals eligible for payment may be applied.
‘The 2024 Beef Welfare Scheme proved to be very popular among the target population with the budget allocation fully spent and over 23,000 farmers paid for participating in it,’ said Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon (FG).
‘This year’s enhanced scheme retains the same measures from last year, but I have increased the overall budget by 40% and lifted the cap on eligible calves from 40 to 45 head. I have also introduced some additional optional measures.
‘As a result, the maximum payment that a farmer can receive will rise from €2,000 to €3,375 for correctly completing three scheme actions. That’s an increase of 69% in the total maximum payable.’
‘When coupled with the SCEP, participants in the 2025 BWS will be eligible to receive €225 per cow/calf pair for the first 22 pairs.’
Full details and terms and conditions will be available on the Department website in advance of the scheme opening.
