The National Beef Welfare Scheme

The Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM) has opened its new one-year voluntary NBWS – National Beef Welfare Scheme – which aims to further increase the economic efficiency of and enhance animal welfare and husbandry on suckler farms.

The scheme is open to all suckler-beef farmers who commit to completing the two mandatory actions required for the full duration of the scheme.

Unlike the previous BEEP-S, there is no flexibility to choose among measures.

Measures:

• 1 – IBR testing – read more in this news article;
• 2 – Meal feeding – read more in this news article.

To be eligible to apply for the scheme, applicants must be:

• Aged 18 years or over on the date of submission of the application;
• Be a holder of an active herd number with herd owner status – herd keeper status is not acceptable;
• Be farming a holding in respect of which a BISS application is submitted in 2023 to the DAFM;
• Be a suckler-beef farmer – has eligible calves born to eligible suckler cows in the period: July 1^st, 2022, to June 30^th, 2023.

An eligible suckler cow shall mean a suckler cow which: 

• Belongs to a beef breed or is sired by a beef breed bull;
• Is not a cow used to supply milk commercially;
• Is part of a herd intended for rearing calves for meat production;
• Rears a calf by suckling;
• Is in the ownership and possession of the applicant and maintained on the holding;
• Is tagged, registered, and recorded in
• In accordance with AIM rules. EC Regulation 1760/2000 refers;
• Is inseminated either through natural service or AI, by a bull of a beef breed;
• Gives birth to an eligible live calf, in the applicant’s herd, which is tagged and registered to that cow in accordance with EU Regulation 1760/2000.

An ‘eligible calf’ shall mean a calf which:

• Was born in the herd of the applicant between July 1^st, 2022, and June 30^th, 2023;
• Belongs to a beef breed, i.e. is born out of an eligible suckler cow and sired by a beef breed bull;
• Is part of a herd intended for rearing calves for meat production;
• Is in the ownership and possession of the applicant since birth and maintained on the holding;
• Has been tagged and registered with the DAFM’s Registration Agency, Clonakilty, Co. Cork within 27 days of birth in accordance with EU Regulation 1760/2000;
• Failure to register a calf within 27 days of birth will  result  in  the  animal;
• being ineligible for payment. It is the farmer’s responsibility to ensure that the registration is received by the registration agency within 27 days of birth;
• Where the herd has both a milking herd and a beef herd, only calves reared by their mother are eligible calves.