It is an important week for over 5,000 farmers in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP), as they need to complete mandatory training by the deadline of Friday, 15 November 2024. The latest figures from the Department of Agriculture show that as of 1 November, 11,363 SCEP participants had completed their training in full, with 3,673 participants yet to log on to the SCEP training portal; while another 1,634 participants have commenced training online, but have not completed it. Failure to complete the training will result in removal from the programme and recoupment of payments received.

A text message was issued this week to over 5,000 farmers yet to complete training and who are registered to receive Department of Agriculture correspondence by SMS message. Farmers have two options to complete the training – online or by attending one of the in-person training events held over the next week.

In-person events

Details of the training events, which take place from 9.30am sharp until 2.30pm, are as follows.

  • Thursday, 07 November: The Maritime Hotel, The Quay, Bantry, Co Cork.
  • Friday, 08 November: The Brehon Hotel, Muckross Road, Killarney, Co Kerry.
  • Monday 11 November: The Bush Hotel, Main Street, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim.
  • Tuesday 12 November: Ard Rí Hotel, Milltown Road, Tuam, Co Galway.
  • Wednesday 13 November: Ardboyne Hotel, Dublin Road, Navan, Co Meath.

    • Attendees must register in advance for the event they wish to attend, by emailing scep@agriculture.gov.ie, or calling the Department helpdesk at 057-8674422.

    SCEP participants must attend the training in-person, they cannot nominate another person to attend in their place. They can, however, bring someone with them on the day to accompany them if they wish, subject to there being capacity within the training room.

    ID will be required to be shown at registration for verification purposes. The Department states that if no photo ID is provided, the participant will need to attend another training event or complete the training in full online.

    There is no payment for attending in-person training and attendees must cover any costs associated with attending the training.

    Online training

    The first time that you try to log in (www.sceptraining.ie) you will be asked to activate your account. This can be completed by entering your herd number and the pin code supplied in your SCEP training letter. If you cannot locate this letter, it can also be found in the SCEP section on agfood.ie.

    At this stage you will be asked to create a password of six to 12 characters in length. The password created should be recorded in a safe place, as from then on you will need your herd number and password to access the training portal. The pin code is only required at the outset to activate your account.

    Activate account

  • Select ‘activate account’.
  • Enter your herd number as well as your PIN number. Select ‘continue’.
  • Enter a custom password for your account, this must be six to 12 characters and numbers.
  • Choose a security question and then provide an answer. Ensure that you do this accurately, because if you lose your login details we will need this to assist you.
  • Enter an email address, unique to you that you have access to.
  • Select ‘continue’ to complete your account activation.
  • You can now continue to log in to the SCEP Learning Portal using your herd number and the password you have just created.