The new scheme for suckler farmers in the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will be called the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme.

The programme will run from 2023-2027, providing support to beef farmers to help improve the environmental sustainability of the national beef herd.

It comprises four mandatory actions, which must be undertaken each year by participants.

The four actions are as follows:

Action 1: A replacement strategy

Action 2: A genotyping programme

Action 3: A weighing measure

Action 4: Data recording

A mandatory training course for participants in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme must be undertaken in each of the first two years of the scheme.

In order to be eligible for the scheme, an applicant must:

How much money will be allocated per cow?

The number of suckler cows eligible per herd will be based on a specified historical reference period, which will provide a ceiling for payment, but there will be scope to reduce numbers without penalty.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, reserves the right to rank and select cases for entry into the scheme in the event of over-subscription and/or reduce the rate payable per cow.

It is proposed that a higher rate of payment of €150/cow will issue for the first 10 suckler cows in a herd with a payment of €120/cow applying thereafter up to the budget limit.

The annual indicative financial allocation for this intervention is €51.2 million, amounting to a total indicative financial allocation of €256 million for the period 2023-2027.

An additional amount of €4 million is also provided for training over the period.

The total amount payable to the trainer per attendee at the training courses in year one and two is €100 annually or €200 in total.

A suckler scheme will be in place for 2022, which will run for one year until the new CAP comes into play.

Only the suckler farmers who were eligible for the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) this year, will be eligible for the one-year scheme which will be in place next year.