Most suckler farmers will be familiar with weighing their cows and calves and recording the data as a core action of the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP).

Where weights are being recorded online, the deadline for weights to be recorded in the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) database is 5:30p.m. on November 1.

Weighing is a core action of SCEP and accounts for up to 20% of the yearly payment. A recent update on the ICBF website remined farmers participating in SCEP of the weighing requirements.

Where cows and calves are being weighed for SCEP, the requirement is to weigh the cow and calf, on the same day.

The calf must be over 50-days-of-age and not yet weaned from its dam. The ideal time to weigh is when the majority of calves are in the five to eight-month stage.

SCEP participants must weigh at least 80% of eligible animals born on the holding of the yearly reference number in each scheme year and their dams and submit weights to ICBF.

The optimum time to weigh a cow and her calf is when the calf is between 150-250 days or from five to eight-months-of-age.

Calves must be weighed before they are weaned and autumn born 2023 suckler weanlings should be weighed without delay if it has not been done already. Early Spring-born weanlings can be weighed from now on also.

The following bullet points include the SCEP weighing requirements for 2024:

Each calf must be un-weaned and weighed with its dam on the applicants holding on the same day;
Where a calf or its dam dies before five months of age, this must be recorded on AIM and the 80% does not include such a pair;
Calves being submitted for weighing must have been born in the herd within each scheme year (Scheme year 2 runs from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024);
All calves being submitted for weighing must be eligible for the scheme;
All calves being submitted for weighing must be in the ownership and possession of the applicant since birth and maintained on the holding. It must be alive at the time of weighing;
The calf must be a minimum of 50 days old before they are eligible to be weighed;
Weights should be submitted to ICBF within seven days of weighing and no later than November 1, annually;
Only registered scales used in accordance with the requirements may be used for the purpose of this programme;
If you are recording weights online/electronically, the weights must be recorded in the ICBF database by 5:30p.m on November 1, annually;
If you are submitting weights by post, the forms must be received by ICBF by 5:30p.m on November 1, annually.

Weights can be recorded on the free ICBF weight recording app available on online services on icbf.com.

Farmers can log in, then click ‘Services’, then click ‘SCEP’ and ‘Record Calf and Dam Weights Yr. 2’.

Weights can be recorded in an animal events notebook and transferred online afterwards. Alternatively, a SCEP weight recording form if online is not an option can be requested from ICBF.