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Beginning today, payments to the value of €13.24m are being issued to 13,290 suckler farmers under the Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot (BEEP).
The €20m scheme was announced last year as part of Budget 2019, with farmers receiving €40 per cow and calf unit weighed.
Payments under the scheme began at the end of October. To date, €15.3m has been paid to 16,424 farmers taking part in the pilot.
I am very aware of how important this support is
Announcing the latest tranche of payments, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said: “The data provided under this important initiative will help to improve the environmental and economic performance of our suckler herds.”
Supports
Minister Creed added that payments under the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) and the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) would begin in the coming weeks. Combined, the three schemes represent €120m in support for the beef sector in 2019.
The minister said: “I am very aware of how important this support is, not just for beef farmers and their families, but for the communities in which they live and the wider rural economy.”
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