The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed that the new €20 million scheme for suckler farmers will open for applications in early August.

The focus of the 2024 Beef Welfare Scheme (BWS) will be "on practical measures to enhance animal health and husbandry on suckler farms".

The scheme will support farmers in meal feeding suckler calves before and after weaning, and in vaccinating against clostridial diseases and calf pneumonia.

The department has said that the meal feeding action is mandatory for all scheme participants.

While farmers must indicate that they are selecting the optional vaccination action at application stage if they wish to be considered for payment under this action.

Farmers can then decide during the implementation phase, where appropriate in consultation with their veterinary surgeon, which disease they wish to target depending on the health status of their herds.

Under the scheme, there is a maximum total payment of €2,000 available for each participating farmer, subject to the maximum of 40 eligible calves.

The payment for the mandatory meal feeding action will be €35/calf, while the optional vaccination measure will be paid at a rate of €15/calf.

The department noted that in the event of the scheme being oversubscribed, a linear reduction on the payment amount or maximum number of animals eligible for payment may be applied.

In order to qualify for the scheme, farmers must have eligible calves born to eligible suckler cows in the period from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

They must introduce meal feeding for a period of four weeks pre-weaning and two weeks post-weaning to reduce the stress on calves at weaning time.

If a farmer selects the vaccination action, they must implement a vaccination programme against clostridial diseases and/or calf pneumonia in suckler calves and record details of the vaccination.

The department said that the maximum payment for this action is €15/calf regardless of whether the calf is vaccinated for one or both diseases.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said that the new scheme, together with Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP), will deliver on his commitment to deliver €200 per cow to suckler farmers.

“This scheme is worth €20 million in additional income to suckler farmers. When coupled with the SCEP, participants in the BWS will be eligible for €200 per cow/calf pair for the first 22 pairs," he said.