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The window for applications to the €50m beef finisher payment scheme opens this morning, Wednesday 19 August to 42,000 farmers.
Eligible farmers have until Wednesday 9 September 2020 to submit an application. Applications received after this three week window will not be accepted by the Department of Agriculture.
To qualify for the €100 per head payment, farmers must have slaughtered an animal between 1 February 2020 and 12 June 2020 inclusive. They must also be a member of Bord Bia’s quality assurance scheme or undertake to become a member before 30 September 2020.
That membership must then be maintained on a continuous basis until 30 September 2021.
Announcing the scheme, Minister for Agriculture Dara Calleary said: "“This scheme has been designed to make the application process as user-friendly and accessible as possible for farmers and I urge any farmer who is eligible for a payment to apply without delay.”
Conditions
Agent or dealer herds will not be eligible for payment. Animals identified on the Department as presented for slaughter by or on behalf of a factory will also be ineligible.
If an animal is presented for slaughter by an agent, dealer or another herdowner within 30 days of purchase, a payment can be claimed by the previous owner provided they held the animal for more than 30 days.
Farmers in a registered farm partnership can apply for a maximum of 200 animals if there are two herds in the partnership. Those with three herds or more can apply for a maximum of 300 animals.
Application process
Farmers can apply for the scheme here. The section to apply will be under ‘exceptional aid measures’.
Farmers should click the ‘select scheme to enter’ button in the top left of the scheme and select ‘beef finisher payment’ on the page that appears.
From there they should click the ‘new application’ button. This will create an application form that is pre-populated with the farmer’s details. This will include the number of animals that qualify for payment under the scheme.
If no animals are displayed or a farmer disagrees with the number there will be an option to request a review.
Once all the required information is filled in the application can be submitted. A message will then be displayed to confirm an application is submitted.
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