The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has announced that the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme (DBWS) will reopened to new applicants on Tuesday 21 April 2026.

Under the scheme farmers that meet the qualifying criteria can avail of a payment of €20 per eligible calf up to a maximum of 50 calves per holding.

The scheme has a budget of €25 million over four years from 2024 to 2027 and is co-funded by the EU as part of the CAP Strategic Plan.

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The aim of the scheme is to support dairy farmers to improve animal health and welfare by using by using genetically superior beef sires for breeding dairy beef calves.

Sires must be genotyped and AI straws or stock bulls with a minimum rating of three stars on the ICBF Dairy Beef Index (DBI) and on the beef sub-index of the DBI must be used by participants to take part in the scheme.

The Department has said that payments of €5.98 million were issued to some 9,175 farmers in February 2026 who had eligible calves born between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025.

“This CAP Strategic Plan scheme demonstrates the commitment of this Government to supporting greater integration of the dairy and beef herds to improve the quality, welfare and viability of male calves from dairy herds," Minister Heydon said.

Applicants to the scheme in 2024 or 2025 do not need to reapply to the scheme as their application has automatically rolled over to 2026, according to the Department.

Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme

In contrast, Minister Heydon reminded farmers that if they are looking to take part in the National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme this year, they must reapply even if they took part in the scheme last year.

New applicants or the Farm Advisory System advisor authorised to act on their behalf can submit their application to the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme online through MyAgfood.ie until 23.59 on 15 May 2026.

More information on the scheme can be found here.