The Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme is set to undergo significant changes when launched under the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. The current scheme rewards farmers rearing progeny from the dairy herd via a payment of €20 for every calf weighed up to a maximum of 40 head and submission of weights to ICBF.

This scheme was included in Ireland’s draft CAP strategic plan and was one of the changes subsequently made.

The new scheme being introduced in 2023 is changing to supporting farmers who breed dairy beef calves and use high dairy beef index (DBI) sires in dairy herds.

Criteria

To be eligible for payment, applicants must use high-DBI artificial insemination (AI) for breeding dairy beef calves. All beef AI sires used must have a minimum DBI of three stars, with two stars highlighted as being the average DBI value for beef bulls.

Payment is unchanged at a maximum of 40 calves payable per holding and a payment rate of €20 per calf.

Eligible calves are any calves bred as described above and born after 1 January in the relevant scheme year.

The scheme will operate on a one-year rolling contract with an annual budget of €5m available.

Applicants must satisfy the following criteria;

  • Have submitted a Basic Income Support Scheme (BISS) application in a historical year and continue to submit BISS applications on which all their lands are declared for the duration of the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme.
  • Have dairy beef breed animals born annually in the herd in each year of participation in the scheme.
  • From 2024, the only new entrants allowed into the scheme will be those who have commenced supplying milk to milk processors for the first time after the closing date for receipt of applications for the scheme in 2023.

    • Scheme aims

    The CAP document outlines that: “According to a report from Teagasc, calf health is greatly dependent on the quality of the calf born. Low value male dairy calves are associated with an increased risk of poor welfare regarding their higher mortality rate.

    Improving the quality of calves born in the dairy herd, which are destined for beef production through the use of high DBI sires, will reduce the welfare risk for calves born in dairy herds which are not required for milk production”.

    Furthermore, the scheme aims to “improve the beef traits of calves from the dairy herd to facilitate the retention of the calves on the island and integration into local production systems as a preference to live exports from a welfare perspective.”

    The document concludes that there will be a demand for the progeny of the high-DBI bulls from beef systems and states that as such progeny are less likely to suffer from illness and poor thrive.