The closing date for the National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme is Tuesday 2 May, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has warned.

ICMSA livestock committee chair Des Morrison has urged all farmers with an interest in the scheme to remember that the closing date is fast approaching.

Farmers can apply for the scheme now online through agfood.ie.

Bare details

Morrison outlined the details of the scheme, but was scathing of them and called them "bare".

The payment is €20/head on a minimum of five eligible calves and a maximum of 50 eligible calves.

An eligible calf is a calf that was born between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023, a male calf of a dairy breed and/or a male or female calf sired by a beef breed and born to a dairy breed dam.

To receive payment, the calf must be weighed after 12 weeks of age and all weights should be submitted within seven days of weighing and before 1 November 2023 to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

'Underfunded'

“There’s no doubt but that the scheme as presently constituted is underpowered and underfunded.

"But the main point that we’d stress is that it can be improved - and we’ll go on pushing for those improvements - and that this is the obvious and most easily achieved way of getting that integration between the beef and dairy sectors that every reputable commentator has identified as being beneficial to both," Morrison said.

The ICMSA, he said, was the sponsoring body for this scheme.

"We believe in it and are committed to improving it and making it the valuable asset and option that it should be," said Morrison.