The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue to deliver for low-income beef, sheep, and suckler farmers in Budget 2025.
In its pre-budget submission, the farm organisation has called for funding for suckler farmers to be increased to €300/cow and payments for sheep farmers to be boosted to €35/ewe.
The association has also called for enhanced supports for the tillage sector.
ICSA
ICSA president Sean McNamara said that the current beef and sheep welfare schemes “fail to provide adequate financial benefits to participants”.
“ICSA contends that the current Beef Welfare Scheme lacks ambition and fails to instil confidence that the government is committed to maintaining current suckler cow numbers,” he said.
“We believe that the scheme was badly designed and needs to be restructured so that the suckler sector can benefit properly from this scheme, which is supposed to provide badly needed income support for suckler farmers.
“For Budget 2025, we recommend increasing the funding to deliver €300 per cow when combined with the SCEP,” McNamara added.
The ICSA proposed that the scheme should offer options for a payment of €60 for meal feeding, €50 for two vaccinations, €40 for myostatin testing and animal welfare protocols around weaning and dehorning.
The farm organisation added that the current limit of 40 eligible animals must be removed, “as it unfairly disadvantages commercial suckler farmers striving for long-term sustainability”.
Sheep
The ICSA said that the government could deliver a possible payment of €35/ewe to sheep farmers when combined with the Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS).
This payment would include €7/head per completed action in the Sheep Welfare Scheme (SWS), with dipping becoming a standalone optional add-on with a payment rate of €9/head due to the increased prevalence of sheep scab.
McNamara said that the ICSA is particularly concerned about the future of the beef finishing sector, which he said is crucial for sustaining the €2.7 billion worth of beef exports.
ICSA is proposing support payments, including a €150/head payment under a dairy calf to beef scheme focused on calf rearing, targeting not the breeders but those rearing the calves.
The association is also calling for a beef carbon efficiency payment worth up to €150/head for feeding and weighing animals between 12-24 months, with the target of early finishing, to a maximum 150 animals, and a calf vaccination programme worth €50/head.
The ICSA president said that the minister’s commitment to pay €100/ha for crops planted this year is “not nearly enough to stop the rot” within the tillage sector.
The organisation has proposed a €250/ha, five-year payment for tillage farmers.
Budget
Representatives from the ICSA met with Minister McConalogue and senior officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, July 17) to outline their pre-budget submission.
“We gave the minister an opportunity to do the right thing by cattle and sheep farmers.
“The numbers are stark in terms of incomes in these sectors, and in terms of the numbers choosing to exit due to lack of economic viability.
“The current perception should not suggest that the State would prefer these farmers to give up so that climate targets will be easier to meet,” McNamara said.
“If these sectors are not supported, the consequence will be a further shift towards dairy farming.
“This will include suckler farms converting to dairying and supporting the expansion of existing dairy herds through contract rearing or land leasing.
“Both scenarios will inevitably lead to greater intensification, which will exert additional pressure on climate and water quality.
“If the government is genuinely committed to meeting climate targets, protecting biodiversity, and improving water quality, then it must protect and support these sectors,” the ICSA president added.