Payments under the 2022 Beef Data and Genomics Programmes (BDGP) have commenced today (Monday, December 12th), the DAFM has confirmed.
According to Minister Charlie McConalogue, his Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine has delivered in the region of €70 million worth of payments to beef and suckler farmers in one week.
The latest run will see payments, valued at over €28 million, issue to over 14,500 BDGP participants in the coming days.
BDGP payments are in addition to the over €42 million that the DAFM issued last week under the 2022 BEEP-S and Dairy Beef schemes to over 30,000 participants.
A one-year transitional Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) for 2022 saw 16,524 of the original BDGP I scheme’s participants opt to continue in the scheme for 2022, while the second tranche of the original programme, Beef Data and Genomics Programme II, has 1,402 participants, figures from the DAFM show.
According to the minister, the BDGP scheme has brought about reductions in Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions while also introducing genetic technology into the national herd, thus improving farm profitability.
Further Beef Data and Genomics Programme payments will continue to issue on an ongoing basis as more farmers verify their compliance with the 2022 scheme requirements, the minister added.
The minister urged participating farmers to return all surveys and genotyping samples and/or complete the carbon navigator update as soon as possible to facilitate payment.
SCEP
2022 will mark the last year of the BDGP, which will be replaced by the SCEP – Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme – in the next CAP.
The scheme will pay participants €150/cow on the first 10 animals compared to €90/cow on the first 10 in the outgoing BDGP.
Last week, in a news article, That’s Farming explored the main differences between the BDGP and SCEP.
The new programme centres around four mandatory annual actions, which include a replacement strategy, a genotyping programme, a weighing measure, and data recording.
For the new scheme, when it comes to financial allocations, the number of suckler cows eligible per herd will be based on a specified historical reference period, which will provide a ceiling for payment.
The DAFM has outlined that “there will be scope to reduce numbers without penalty”.
Its documentation states, “a maximum payable area will be derived from the reference figure by dividing it by 1.5, and participants will be paid at a rate of €225 per hectare on the first 15 eligible hectares and €180 per eligible hectare thereafter”.
Read more in this news article.
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