The DAFM has opened the BEEP-S and the Dairy-Beef Calf measure for applications, which are worth a combined €45m to livestock farmers.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, announced the opening of both schemes this morning (Wednesday, March 16th, 2022).
The schemes are aimed at driving further efficiencies within the livestock sectors.
Beef schemes: BEEP-S
BEEP (S), with a funding provision of €40 million in 2022, targets the weaning efficiency of suckler cows and calves.
It measures the live weight of the calf at weaning as a percentage of the cow’s live weight.
Scheme applicants can also select from several optional health and welfare measures.
These include meal feeding or vaccinating weanlings and/or faecal egg testing of suckler cows.
McConalogue confirmed that under BEEP–S, participants may be eligible for up to €90 for the first 10 suckler cow/calf pairs per herd.
They can avail of up to €80/pair thereafter subject to an overall maximum of 100 pairs per herd, if they apply all actions and complete in full in accordance with the scheme’s terms and conditions.
The minister said the 2022 BEEP–S scheme builds on the “success” of last year’s scheme, which had approximately 30,000 participants.
Dairy-Beef Calf Measure
With a budget of €5 million in 2022, this measure aims to:
- Increase the economic and environmental efficiency of beef from the dairy herd;
- Facilitate further the integration of the dairy and beef sectors by providing support for farmers rearing progeny from the dairy herd.
The core action weighing eligible calves, for which there is a payment of €20/calf up to a maximum of 40 calves. This is an increase from 20 calves from the pilot measure.
Making an application
The minister confirmed that the application process for both beef schemes will remain open until Monday, April 25th, 2021.
McConalogue reminded farmers and advisors that they must submit applications online at agfood.ie.
They should ensure their application is actually submitted, rather than having a status as a ‘draft application’ on agfood.ie.”
Participants in the 2021 scheme, who wish to partake in this year’s measure, must submit a new application.
