The maximum payment under the Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme has been slashed by almost 40%, the Department of Agriculture has confirmed.

In an email to stakeholders on Monday, the Department admitted that the maximum payment has been cut from €1,000 to €620 per applicant – a reduction of €380.

The €4m scheme was anticipated to pay out €20 per calf on up to 200,000 animals – with applicants restricted to a maximum of 50 calves or €1,000.

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However, as more than 305,000 calves were weighed for the scheme ahead of the 1 November deadline, the maximum number of calves on which payments will be made under the scheme has fallen from 50 to 31.

Outrageous

Reacting to Department’s move, Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) president Seán McNamara described the proposed cuts as “nothing short of outrageous”.

“The Department encouraged farmers to weigh calves, submit data and drive dairy-beef integration. Farmers delivered in good faith. Now, after 305,000 calves were weighed, farmers are being told that up to 40% of their work will go unpaid,” said McNamara.

“That is completely unacceptable. Farmers should not be penalised because the Department miscalculated demand,” the ICSA leader added.

The ICSA called on Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon to immediately increase the budget so that all calves weighed and submitted by the deadline are paid in full.

Maximum payment

This call was echoed by Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) livestock chair Michael O’Connell.

“The Minister must ensure that all farmers are paid on the maximum of 50 eligible calves as outlined in the terms and conditions,” the ICMSA representative insisted.

“We need to incentivise this system of calf rearing, as it is a high-cost model with a long road to return on investment and that €20/head up to 31 calves is a very meagre token of a payment,” O’Connell said.

Given the recent cuts to the Beef Welfare Scheme and Sheep Welfare Scheme, O’Connell said Minister Heydon needed to “future-proof all livestock schemes” and ensure adequate funding is available.

IFA

Commenting on the various national farm schemes that support farmers, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) said the Department of Agriculture has an obligation to pay all farmers in full.

“The demand from the farmer side is positive and those who took up the schemes have carried out the measures that were required of them.

“We met the Minister on this issue earlier this month and made it very clear to him that even though the number of applicants is higher than expected, he needs to find the extra funding to deliver the promised amounts per animal.”