25 October 2023
Maximise all beef and suckler scheme payments this year
There was a number of new beef schemes introduced in 2023, namely the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP), the National Beef Welfare Scheme (NBWS) and the National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme.
In a year where costs are remaining high and it looks like we are heading into a long winter with the current weather conditions, Alan Nolan, Drystock Advisor in Teagasc Ballinrobe, explains why it is more important than ever to maximise all these beef scheme payments for 2023.
In this article, he outlines some of the key actions and dates which farmers need to be aware of over the next few weeks in order to meet all requirements for these schemes.
Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP)
SCEP consists of a number of actions, namely the below:
- Action 1 – Eligible Bull/Eligible AI
- In Year 1, 80% of calves born must have been sired from a 4 or 5 star ball (either Stockbull or AI) i.e. a genotyped 4 or 5 star bull on either the Terminal or Replacement Index (on a within or across breed basis).
- Action 2 – Female Replacement Strategy
- Farmers must have 50% of their yearly reference number of eligible heifers or suckler cows genotyped 4 or 5 star on the Replacement index. Females must be over 16 months on the 31st of October. If you sold 4 or 5 star cows or heifers this year you may now be short. So check your SCEP Eligibility Profile on the ICBF website and see are you on track to meet this requirement.
- Action 3 – Genotyping
- Ensure all Genomic samples sent out during the summer are returned by 30th November 2023.
- Action 4 – Weighing and Submission of weights to ICBF
- Weighing for SCEP must be carried out before 1st November. Weigh both the cow and calf separately on the same day before weaning and submit weights to ICBF within seven days. The calf must be a minimum of 50 days old before it is eligible to be weighed. If you are submitting weights by post, the forms must be received by ICBF by 5:30pm on 1 November 2023.
- Action 5 – Calving Details and Surveys
- Similar to BDGP in the past, farmers are required to complete survey forms supplied by the ICBF in respect of all eligible calves born on the holding and their dams. In order to ensure the validity of all this data, all calves born in the herd must be maintained on the holding for at least five months. The closing date for submission of these survey forms is 15th February 2024.
Note: If a farmer fails three or more of the actions 1, 2, 3 or 4 in any one scheme year, they will be removed from the programme and any payments already made will be recouped.
National Beef Welfare Scheme
This scheme, which farmers recently applied for, has two mandatory actions.
- Action 1 (IBR Testing): Farmers in this scheme should contact their vet to organise to blood test animals over 9 months in their herd for IBR antibodies. All blood samples need to be submitted by the vet to an approved Lab by 1st November 2023.
- Action 2 (Meal Feeding): Meal feed weanlings four weeks before weaning and two weeks after weaning to reduce stress at weaning time. The recommended quantity of meal to feed is 1kg/animal/day. It’s important to retain all receipts of meal fed for inspection checks later.
National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme
This scheme pays €20/head to weigh dairy-beef calves up to a maximum of 50 calves. Eligible calves must be born between 1st July 2022 and 30th June 2023 and their dam must be a dairy cow. If the sire of the calf is a dairy bull then only male calves qualify. If the sire is a beef breed, male and female calves qualify. Calves must be at least 12 weeks old at weighing. Submit all weights to ICBF by 1st November 2023.
If you require further information on any of the requirements for these schemes contact your nearest Teagasc Office.
Also read: Reassessing beef budgets ahead of winter 2023