The closing date for applications to the National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme is Tuesday, May 2 – just six days from today (Wednesday, April 26).
Applicants to the scheme can get up to €20/eligible calf weighed but must weigh at least five eligible calves and will receive payment on no more than 50 calves The maximum payment in the scheme is €1,000.
In the event of oversubscription, a linear reduction may be applied.
The weights must be submitted to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) within seven days of weighing and before November 1, 2023. Payments will be made to farmers in December 2023.
If a farmer owns a set of weighing scales and plans to use them for the purpose of the scheme, they must be pre-registered before the weight recording event.
To register scales, farmers can go onto the ICBF website and register the scales using the ‘Registration of scales for Dairy Beef’ input screen.
Calves born between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023 are eligible.
The following calves are eligible:
- Male calves off a dairy breed;
- Male calves off a beef-breed sire born to a dairy breed dam;
- Female calves calves off a beef-breed sire born to a dairy breed dam.
Calves must be at least 12 weeks of age at the time of weighing and been registered on the holding they are being weighed on for a minimum of 10 days prior to the date of weighing. Farmers can apply to the scheme on Agfood.ie.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), the objective of the National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme is to support decision-making on farms through better-quality data on herd performance and to increase the economic and environmental efficiency of the beef from the dairy herd.
It also aims to facilitate further the integration of the dairy and beef sectors by providing support for farmers who are rearing progeny from the dairy herd. The scheme will be funded by the Irish exchequer.
