An additional €8m was announced for the Beef Welfare Scheme in Budget 2025.

This brings the overall budget for the scheme up from €20m to €28m.

Currently, a maximum of 40 calves are eligible per farmer up to a maximum payment of €50 per calf.

this €8m increase will result in an increase per calf of €25 bringing the total payment per head to €75.

The two actions under this current scheme include a mandatory meal feeding payment of €35/calf and a voluntary vaccination payment of €15/calf.

Calves born from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 are eligible for the current scheme.

The limit on the number of calves eligible for payment has been continually raised as a negative for larger-sized suckler farmers, many of whom have also experienced significant cuts to direct payments.

Raising this limit would not account for a major increase in funding and would generate significant goodwill among full time and larger herd owners.

The 2023 Beef Welfare Scheme only drew down about €14.5m of the €23m allocated, with the inclusion of blood testing for IBR cited as reducing participation rates and leading to about one third of participants opting not to complete that action.

Reports indicate that the number of farmers who applied to the 2024 scheme increased, while it is also envisaged that more farmers will complete the optional vaccination action for pneumonia or clostridial disease, thereby utilising an increased percentage of available funding.

The scheme enjoyed participation rates of in excess of 25,000 participants from 2020 to 2022.

This was fuelled by higher payment rates, which reduced following the removal of mandatory weighing of cow-calf pairs and its inclusion to the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme.

Calf eligibility

It is expected that the same eligibility criteria will apply to calves. This includes calves being sired by a beef bull and born to a beef dam.

The timeline for calves to be included has remained similar in recent years and if this continues, calves born from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 will be eligible.

Sheep Welfare Scheme

The Sheep Welfare Scheme has been allocated €22m to continue into 2025.

The 2024 round of the scheme was allocated €15m in last year’s budget, which allowed for payment rates of €8/ewe.

Should the €7m Budget 2025 funding rise apply linearly to 2024’s payment rates, sheep farmers could be in line for a €12/ewe top-up next year to the five-year €12/ewe Sheep Improvement Scheme in CAP.

Meanwhile, an additional €10m is to be invested in animal health measures to enhance biosecurity.

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