Farmers and the wider agricultural industry have been bamboozled by the rate at which reports have been released in recent weeks and the volume of information to digest.

There have been concerns raised around the level of funding for a number of schemes proposed in the next CAP.

In particular, the spotlight is on the new suckler scheme, termed the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme, and the Sheep Improvement Scheme which replaces the Sheep Welfare Scheme.

A higher level of payment is proposed under the new suckler scheme of €150 per head on the first 10 cows in the herd and €120 thereafter.

The Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme has been allocated funds of €260m or a similar annual figure of €50m

The concern lies around the fact that the overall funds allocated have not increased from the last Rural Development Plan, meaning that to increase payments the number of cows which will receive payment will fall.

The Beef Data and Genomics Programme was allocated funds of €295m or approximately €50m per year over the six-year lifetime of the programme and targeted in excess of 500,000 cows.

The Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme has been allocated funds of €260m or a similar annual figure of €50m.

As reported in last week’s Irish Farmers Journal, the Department is expecting 400,000 cows to be included in the scheme. The IFA says that the level of funding is inadequate as it will only suffice to cover 385,000 cows in 20,000 herds and argues that it leaves 500,000 cows in 30,000 herds excluded.

Farmers have been quick to highlight that this level of funding is a reduction of €5m on the level of funding initially allocated

It claims that in the absence of a commitment to a BEEP-S-type programme, which is currently funded from the National Exchequer, there is a 35% cut in funding for the suckler sector.

Meanwhile, the level of funding allocated to the new Sheep Improvement Scheme has been set at €100m or €20m per annum.

Farmers have been quick to highlight that this level of funding is a reduction of €5m on the level of funding initially allocated under the RDP 2014-2020, ruling out the possibility for a significant increase in the payment level per ewe.