The Department of Agriculture has provided clarity on when farmers can withdraw from the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) without incurring a penalty. Farmers who are in the scheme can withdraw without a penalty before any payment issues or the farmer is notified of an inspection.
The Department of Agriculture has provided clarity on when farmers can withdraw from the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) without incurring a penalty.
Farmers who are in the scheme can withdraw without a penalty before any payment issues or the farmer is notified of an inspection.
Payment is scheduled to be issued in mid-December, but the Department has said that farm inspections will begin in advance of payments starting.
The Department also clarified that once they are in the scheme, in line with EU regulations, applicants can apply to withdraw from the BDGP in situations where force majeure applies. These are circumstances which are beyond the control of the participant and include:
Death of the beneficiary.Long-term professional incapacity of the beneficiary.Expropriation of all or a large part of the holding if that expropriation could not have been anticipated on the day of lodging the application.A severe natural disaster gravely affecting the holding.The accidental destruction of livestock buildings on the holding.An epizootic or a plant disease affecting part or all of the beneficiary’s livestock or crops, respectively.Also, if a participant disposes all, or part, of their land they may withdraw from the BDGP without penalty or recoupment provided that after the disposal, they have retained less than 80% of the maximum payable area provided for in the BDGP.
Last week, farmers began receiving their €uroStar reports with many participants seeing €uroStar evaluations for animals in their herd for the first time. The remaining reports are due to be issued this week and contain information on the number of cows identified as eligible for payment as well as herd requirements for achieving 2018 and 2020 replacement targets.
Genotyping tags are also being issued to farmers, as well as information on tagging.
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