The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue T.D., today announced the opening of the new €5 million Dairy Beef Calf measure under the new Beef Sector Efficiency Pilot has opened for applications. Applications for the measure can be lodged through agfood.ie with the closing date on Monday 26 April.
Dairy Beef Calf Pilot Programme
The Minister announced the opening of a new and pioneering Dairy Beef Calf measure for 2021, which has a budget allocation of €5 million in 2021. The objective is to increase the economic and environmental efficiency of beef from the dairy herd, and to facilitate further the integration of the dairy and beef sectors by providing support for farmers who are rearing progeny from the dairy herd. The core action is the weighing of eligible calves for which there is a payment of €20 per calf up to a maximum of 20 calves.
Minister McConalogue acknowledged the strong potential for better integration of dairy and beef systems, to provide a new income stream for beef farmers and noted that when added to the recently announced BEEP-S.
He stated, “this €45 million package as a whole will support livestock farmers to improve the economic and environmental performance of their herds, while providing valuable income support for the sector.
“This innovative €5 million Dairy Beef measure comes after I officially open the application process for the €40 million BEEP-S scheme for sucklers. I am committed to the long-term support of sustainable beef farming in this country as it plays a huge role in the economy of rural Ireland. I stand ready to continue to support our suckler and beef sectors in the time ahead.”
The application process will remain open until Monday 26 April 2021.
Minister McConalogue noted that though the scheme will be funded by the Irish exchequer, details of the scheme have been notified to the European Commission in accordance with the COVID-19 Temporary State Aid Framework.
The Minister concluded by reminding farmers and advisors that, “applications must be done online at agfood.ie and to ensure their application is actually submitted, rather than having a status as a “draft application” on agfood.ie.”