The "ceiling" of 40 cows needs to be removed from the Beef Welfare Scheme to ensure all suckler farmers are supported according to the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA).

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue outlined that supports for next year for suckler cows have been increased up to €225/cow in Budget 2025 and funding is being provided for a dairy beef calf scheme.

IFA National Livestock Committee chair, Declan Hanrahan said the national exchequer funding of €28 million provided for the Beef Welfare Scheme for 2025 represents an increase of €8 million for the scheme.

This will bring payments under the scheme to €75/suckler cow and when combined with the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP), returns up to €225/cow for next year.

He said the increase in payments of €25/cow is a step in the right direction, but more will need to be done.

The IFA representative said the substantive issue now is to ensure there is no leakage of this "vital" additional support for suckler farmers.

The IFA has stressed that the requirements in the scheme must be practical, easy to implement on farms and not add any unnecessary cost or bureaucracy for suckler farmers.

Declan Hanrahan said this year’s Beef Welfare Scheme was a practical and beneficial scheme for suckler farmers and that the scheme for next year must follow a similar vein.

The scheme "must have the ceiling of 40 cows removed to ensure all suckler farmers are supported equally based on the numbers of cows they have", he said.

He added that the increased funding announced for the Dairy Beef Scheme must be utilised to provide a scheme for farmers rearing dairy beef calves.

The IFA has said that failure to provide a scheme for this purpose this year was "a mistake which must be addressed" with the additional funding for next year.

Hanrahan said IFA will be engaging with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to ensure these objectives are achieved in the design of both schemes for next year.