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Despite two extensions to the deadline for applications to the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM), some of the €100m fund looks set to be returned.
As of Wednesday morning, 33,973 applications had been received by the Department of Agriculture. That equates to less than half of the estimated 70,000 eligible farmers.
Those farmers who lodged applications have applied for €77.54m worth of funding.
The scheme remains open until Friday 20 September. In a bid to boost applications, the Department of Agriculture facilitated farmers to apply on its stand at the National Ploughing Championships.
Over the last week, 4,347 farmers applied.
Eligible suckler cows will receive a €40/head payment, while finished animals are paid at a rate of €100/head.
A total of 458,509 suckler cows have been applied for and these farmers, if eligible, will receive €18.34m in support.
On the finishing side, farmers have applied for support on 592,021 animals, which is worth €59.2m.
On average, suckler farmers have applied for 14 cows, giving a payment of €560. On average finishers have applied for 20 cattle, giving a payment of €2,000. One of the major obstacles to applications raised by farmers has been the requirement to reduce organic bovine nitrogen by 5%.
Farm organisations have called on Minister Creed to review the production reduction condition in a bid to ensure there was no underspend in the crisis fund.
Phil Hogan
Outgoing European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan was central to securing the €50m from the European Union, which was matched by €50m from the Irish Government.
Speaking at the Agricultural Science Association (ASA) conference last Friday, Commissioner Hogan said it would be “the greatest embarrassment of all time” if all of the €100m BEAM fund is not drawn down.
He warned that an underspend in BEAM would make it more difficult to secure money for support schemes in the future.
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