The average sheep farmer could receive a boost of €600 as part of Budget 2024 as a result of the new payment of €8/ewe.

Some €15m in new money has been designated to support the sector, which will be added to the €12/ewe payment currently available under the Sheep Improvement Scheme, bringing total Government supports to €20/ewe.

With approximately 1.8m ewes likely to be enrolled in the scheme and an average of 75 ewes per farm, the average sheep farmer could receive a new payment worth €600 in 2024. The detail of the schemes which will enable farmers to draw down the payment are not yet known, but it is understood they could involve sheep shearing and flock health measures.

IFA sheep chair Kevin Comiskey described the upping of payments to €20/ewe as a “significant move in the right direction”. “The critical issue now will be the design of the scheme to maximise the value of these supports for sheep farmers,” he added.

Sucklers

A €200/suckler cow payment has been maintained in the budget. This is comprised of a €50/cow payment under the National Beef Welfare Scheme (NBWS) and €150/cow under Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) up to a set number of cows.

Dairy beef

New money was also announced in Budget 2024 for beef and dairy farmers, with a total budget of €6.5m for the dairy beef scheme. This represents €1.5m in new spending compared to the 2023 scheme.

The funding is expected to extend the current dairy beef scheme, to incentivise farmers to buy and rear beef calves from the dairy herd, reducing the requirement for calf exports.