Beef Welfare Scheme

The 2024 Beef Welfare Scheme (BWS) closes for applications next Tuesday, 24 September. There are two actions in the scheme, one mandatory and one voluntary, with a maximum payment of €2,000 for all actions at the maximum of 40 calves.

An eligible suckler calf must be born into the herd of the applicant between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.

Applications can be made online at www.agfood.ie by you or an approved adviser on your behalf. There are two actions under the scheme. Action one is meal feeding, which is mandatory. Action two is vaccination, which is voluntary. You cannot vaccinate more calves than you meal-feed.

At application stage you will be presented with the number of eligible calves in your herd for the scheme. You can select less than this number. The maximum number of calves allowed for a single herd under the scheme is 40.

Meal feeding must be done for a period of four weeks pre-weaning and two weeks post-weaning to reduce the stress on calves at weaning time. Calves must be supplemented with compound feed stuffs containing appropriate minerals and vitamins.

Receipts, invoices and labels of all compound feed stuffs and/or straights, as well as complementary mineral mixtures purchased, must be kept for the purpose of inspection if you are selected for one.

The voluntary vaccination measure must be for clostridial diseases and/or calf pneumonia in suckler calves.

The payment rate per eligible calf for meal feeding is €35. At a maximum of 40, this brings the maximum payment per applicant under this action to €1,400. For vaccination, the payment is €15/eligible calf. At the maximum number of calves, this is €600.

Castration

The good weather forecast for the next 7-10 days is a good chance to organise castration before animals are housed. Teagasc research would say that the younger the animal the easier it is on them.

Where castration is to be carried out on farm without an anaesthetic, it needs to be completed before the animal reaches 6 months of age.

If you are planning to castrate male animals in the next couple of weeks, one of the first steps is to ensure that the animals have received a clostridial vaccine, especially if banding is taking place.

Make sure the vaccine covers tetanus. The primary course and booster vaccine should be given four to six weeks apart. If using a burdizzo, it is advisable to crush the spermatic cord twice, one below the other for 10 seconds each time.

Completing this job well in advance of weaning will also decrease the amount of stress put on the animal at the same time. A lot of vets are now also using a painkiller to help reduce pain during the castration process.

Monitor animals after castration for signs of swelling, and watch for animals lying on their own and not grazing. Having good handling facilities is extremely important for this job, and having good help will also reduce the chances of getting injured during the process.