Beef farmers who are not in a quality assurance scheme have the option to join Bord Bia’s Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme before 1 December in order to avail of the €100m Beef Exceptional Aid Scheme (BEAM), the Department of Agriculture has said.

The Department announced on Tuesday evening: “Beef farmers not in SBLAS or a DAFM environmental scheme have the option to join SBLAS before [1 December] for BEAM eligibility.”

Applications to the scheme will be accepted online only, the Department of Agriculture has said.

It advised that farmers should ensure that they have the necessary access to the agfood.ie portal, either as individuals or through their agent in good time to apply.

Farmers who fail to continue to be a member of at least one environmental scheme or quality assurance scheme for the duration of the scheme will face a 100% penalty.

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Farmers can still join schemes for €100m BEAM eligibility

Beef farmers applying to the €100m BEAM scheme have the opportunity to join a QA scheme up to 1 December.