The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will issue the annual Sheep and Goat Census forms for 2017 this week to over 45,000 sheep and goat keepers registered on the Department’s database.

The Department has selected Sunday 31 December 2017 as the census date. Farmers are under a legal obligation to complete and return the form.

The closing date for receipt of completed 2017 census forms is 31 January 2018. For farmers, the form is central in declaring that the required stocking rates are being maintained in order to receive payments under BPS, ANC, AEOS, GLAS, etc. The census is also a requirement of the Sheep Welfare Scheme.

Returns

Postal returns must be forwarded to Seefin Data Management, PO Box 17, An Post, Cahirdown, Listowel DSU, Co Kerry, no later than that date.

However, respondents submitting a census return online via agfood.ie may avail of an extended closing date to 11.59pm on 14 February 2018.

The distribution of sheep/goat identification and registration breaches in 2016 during cross compliance inspections shows that 48% of breaches were in relation to the sheep census/database. If a farmer is subject to an inspection, one of the first things that an inspector will do is a full flock count and compare it with the last Sheep Census.

The results of the Sheep Census must also be recorded in the ovine flock register for the farm.