Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue TD, has announced that, following extensive consultation with cross sectoral stakeholders, the decision has been taken to move forward with the introduction of mandatory electronic identification in the cattle herd.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D. today announced that the review of TAMS reference costs has been finalised and the changes proposed have been implemented from the opening of Tranche 23 on 24 July 2021. This review was based on a detailed analysis of the costs of completed works up to end-March 2021.

Minister announces changes to TB rules to allow restricted farmers to move cattle into their herds more easily - Minister welcomes important step

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue T.D, today reminded BEAM participants that the option to choose the alternative BEAM reduction period of 1st January 2021 to the 31st December 2021 closes on Monday 21st June 2021.

The current reduction period is 1st July 2020 to 30th June 2021. However, as a result of COVID-19 and the impact it could have on some farmers meeting their 5% bovine Nitrates reduction requirement, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine wrote to the European Commission in January 2021 seeking an extension of the reduction period.

To further increase economic and environmental efficiency in the suckler herd through better quality data on herd performance, supporting decision making on farm and support of best practice in welfare management

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What does it involve and who is eligible?

• The programme is open to all suckler beef farmers who commit to completing the mandatory action required within the duration of the programme, optional welfare enhancement actions are also available for additional support.
• Payment will be on beef breed (dam and sire) animals born in the herd between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020.
• Applications open on agfood.ie until 15 May 2020.

The Minister of State for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (with responsibility for Farm Safety), Martin Heydon T.D. and Chief Executive Officer of the Health and Safety Authority, Dr Sharon McGuinness, today jointly launched an on-line Tractor Safety Awareness Training Course, in conjunction with the Irish Farmers Journal. 

ASF which is a deadly disease of pigs and wild boar was confirmed yesterday (10/09/2020) in the eastern area of Spree-Neisse within a few kilometres of the Polish border. ASF virus, which is highly fatal for pigs and wild boar, does not affect humans and poses no food safety risk. Reports to date indicate that the infection involves a single wild boar which was found dead and there have been no reports of the disease in domestic pigs in Germany. The Department has confirmed that there has been no importation of live pigs from Germany into Ireland this year to date.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Dara Calleary T.D., today announced the opening of the Beef Finisher Payment (BFP). The scheme is a one off, exchequer funded grant aid scheme under the Covid19 State Aid Temporary Framework with funding totalling €50M. The objective of BFP is to provide support for beef finishing farms in Ireland which have been severely impacted by the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Dara Calleary T.D., today announced details of the Beef Finishers Payment (BFP), an Exchequer funded scheme of €50 million to provide income support for up to 42,000 farmers with beef finishing enterprises, who have been impacted by the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Minister Calleary stated “I am fully aware of the difficulties caused by Covid-19 in the Irish beef sector and the consequences for those in beef farming and for the rural economy as a whole. Farmers with finished animals suffered from both reduced prices and other restrictions in getting animals to market. The closure of the food service market in Ireland, the UK and beyond has had a dramatic impact on the industry and in particular those who supply it to make their living.”

This Circular extends the submission date of the 2019 Rare Breed declaration form & record sheet along with the required documentation from the 31st May 2020 to the 31st July 2020 in light of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Any farmer that is getting paid in GLAS for keeping rare breeds must ensure that their paperwork for 2019 is submitted before the 31^st of July 2020. This is an extension to the original submission date and it won’t be extended again.

If you don’t have your paperwork submitted by this date you will be rejected from this action in GLAS plan and all money that was received by the farmer under this measure will be recouped in full.

This situation can get even worse if this action was the action that was used to gain a farmer entry into the scheme then the farmer will also be rejected out of the GLAS scheme. This will result in a total clawback of all money received in the GLAS scheme.

Obligations of the Programme

There are a number of actions in the Programme, with action one being compulsory.

Applicants then also have the option to choose action 2, and/or action3.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, T.D today reminded farmers that the deadline to submit their 2020 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Beef Environmental Efficiency

Programme – Suckler (BEEP-S) applications online is Friday 15 May. The rate of submission of applications for 2020 BPS continues to be significantly ahead of last year’s rate and the BEEP-S applications are going well also.

The Department has been assisting farmers in making their applications in recent weeks through its telephone helpdesk services.  The Minister announced that this Lo-call telephone service will be available to farmers for extended hours in the run up to the deadline.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, T.D., today reminded farmers and their advisors that the online  application process for both the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme - Suckler (BEEP-S) for 2020 and the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) is open until 15 May 2020.  Suckler farmers should ensure that they apply for the BEEP-S programme in time so as to ensure that they get the full benefits  of this new  Programme. 

The Department will also be implementing its own business continuity plan to maintain essential services. This means that the Department is taking all of the precautions necessary to protect its staff and its clients, consistent with HSE advice, but is remaining open for business, prioritising the delivery of essential services to farmers, fishermen and the food and forestry sectors. 

The Department is taking necessary steps to ensure:

• that producers and processors can continue to operate effectively and keep supply lines open
• that the Department can operate as effectively as possible during the current pandemic.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are reminding farmers that 2020 Nitrates Derogation applications can now be submitted online. The closing date for applications is 8 April 2020.

Farmers are advised to contact their agricultural advisor to determine if they should avail of this facility. More information is available on the Department’s website at the following link: https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/ruralenvironmentsustainability/environmentalobligations/nitrates/nitratesderogation/2020nitratesderogation/

Farmers who applied for a Derogation in 2019 are reminded that they must submit Fertiliser Accounts by 8 April 2020 also.

End of year Nitrogen and Phosphorus statements (N&P statements) for 2019 are available on the Department’s online system www.agfood.ie.

Farmers not already registered for agfood.ie can do so by logging onto www.agfood.ie and clicking the 'Register' button.