National Beef Welfare Scheme to continue in 2024
The National Beef Welfare Scheme (NBWS) – the replacement for BEEP-S – will continue into 2024, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has announced.
Following the publication of Budget 2024 yesterday, October 10th, from which supports of €200/cow were unveiled, DAFM confirmed that the NBWS will be operated under national funding next year.
Initially this programme was developed as a one-year programme, with funding available from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve. As this reserve is to end this year, national funds have been made available to continue the programme in 2024.
This year, the National Beef Welfare Scheme consisted of two mandatory components - IBR testing and meal feeding.
Farmers engaging in the programme this year are required to engage a vet who will blood sample and test up to 20 bovine animals per herd, ideally 9 months old (if feasible) or above if present in the herd, or all ages if there is less than 20 in the herd for IBR gE antibodies.
Where a herd has 20 or more bovines, a minimum of 20 must be tested. Where a herd has less than 20 bovines, all must be tested.
Number of bovines tested - payment rates:
- Between 2 to 6 animals (inclusive) - €120
- Between 7 to 10 animals (inclusive) - €180
- Between 11 to 15 animals (inclusive) - €250
- Between 16 to 20 animals (inclusive) - €300
Meal feeding
The other mandatory measure of the scheme means participants 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. Eligible suckler calves are those born between 1st July 2022 and 30th June 2023. The rate of payment is €35 per calf for a maximum of 40 calves.
As yet, it is unclear if the same actions and payment rates applicable in 2023 will apply to the 2024 National Beef Welfare Scheme, with further details expected closer to the opening of the scheme in 2024.