Rightly or wrongly, I signed up for the new Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) scheme last week.

I won’t be entitled to a huge amount of money, so I may as well apply, as every penny counts in this game at the minute.

Worst case scenario, I’ll have to pay it back if I don’t reduce the amount of organic nitrogen produced on my farm by 5%.

Terms and conditions state that in order to qualify for the scheme, a farmer must be quality assured or be part of a department environmental scheme such as GLAS or BDGP, all of which I am signed up to.

Conditions

The department will calculate how much organic nitrogen was produced on the applicant’s farm from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019. The second reference period will be 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

The amount of nitrogen produced for the second period must be 5% less than the first period or the applicant will likely be forced to repay the money - a measure that seems unfair, as the scheme is designed to compensate farmers for losses incurred due to poor beef prices last winter caused by Brexit.

In my own situation, I will have to reduce my stocking rate by around three cows.

This is something that I would normally have no interest in doing, but, strangely and somewhat disappointingly, it does not seem to bother me in this instant.

I think the fact that having to reduce stock doesn’t seem to bother me tells its own sorry tale!

Weaning

All bull calves are now weaned and are back at grass on two kilos of meal.

The cows are also back at grass, but were housed for two weeks due to the heavy rain.

Last year was the first time I had finished my bulls and I had intended to do the same this year.

With so much uncertainty around, it’s hard to know what to do for the best.

Any good heavy continental weanling bulls that I’ve seen sold or heard tell of are struggling to make €2/kg, which is a far cry from what we’re used to and is just no good.

No one knows what the situation will be next March or April, when these bulls will be ready for slaughter.

Unless there’s another extension, it will be post-Brexit.

Will we still have the British market? Will we be able to get bulls killed at all or will all be well and factories will be offering €4.50/kg! Who knows?

Not much point worrying, as we have absolutely no control over it anyway. Maybe I’ll hedge my bets, sell a few and finish the rest.

Reseeding

Just a quick word of thanks to anyone who attended Inishowen Co-op's reseeding event last Thursday.

There was a huge turnout on such a damp evening. Thankfully, the rain did stop before we kicked off, but by that time we’d organised a plan B in the form of the Inishowen Agricultural Show Society’s shed.

Big thanks to their committee for allowing us the use of it, much appreciated.

Thanks also to Goldcrop and Teagasc, who the event was run in conjunction with, and to Paul Scott for the use of his field. Thanks again.

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Farmer Writes: do as I say, not as I do

Farmer writes: grass, grass and more grass!