The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D. today announced that the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) will open for applications from Monday 19th August;

BEAM will open for applications from 19^th August to 8^th September inclusive. Applications will be accepted online through AgFood.ie

This measure will be funded by a combination of EU exceptional aid and Exchequer support, provided in light of the difficult circumstances that Irish beef farmers have been facing as a result of market volatility and uncertainty arising out of Brexit.

The Minister acknowledged, “I am keenly aware that the past few months have been very difficult for beef farmers. There has been a prolonged and exceptional period of depressed prices since last autumn, with the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the outcome of Brexit, among other factors, contributing to this market disturbance.”

“The availability of this EU and Exchequer support, together with the Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot (BEEP) introduced earlier this year, provides an injection of up to €120m in aid for the beef sector in 2019.”

BEAM will provide financial aid to Irish beef farmers and is targeted towards those farmers most affected. BEAM is also designed to meet the requirements set out by the Commission, including granting support to farmers engaging in actions, which enhance their long-term resilience and sustainability.

BEAM is a demand-led, voluntary scheme. Farmers who meet the initial eligibility criteria will then have to commit to meeting the following conditions in order to qualify for aid. Each participant must:

• be a member of a Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme or a DAFM environmental scheme; and
• reduce the production of bovine livestock manure nitrogen (total figure) per herd by 5% for a target period (1 July 2020 - 30 June 2021) compared to a reference period (1 July 2018 – 30 June 2019).

The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government launched a register of water abstractions in accordance with the European Union (Water Policy) (Abstractions Registration) Regulations 2018 (S.I. No. 261 of 2018) in August 2018. People who abstract 25 cubic meters (25,000 litres) of water or more per day are required to register their water abstraction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The official deadline for registration passed on 16 November 2018 and the EPA estimates that about 10 to 15% of abstractions of 25 or more cubic meters per day have been registered to date from the farming sector.  

These statements are particularly useful to allow farmers to plan for the remainder of the year, in order to ensure compliance with the limits of the Nitrates Regulations, thus avoiding penalties for breaching the limits of 170 kgs of Nitrogen per hectare or the limit for those who hold an approved derogation is 250 kgs of Nitrogen per hectare.

Farmers not already registered for agfood.ie can do so by logging onto www.agfood.ie and clicking the 'Register' button. To register a mobile phone number for future SMS text alerts log on to https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/contactsupdates/ to access the sign-on form.

Each year a small proportion of Irish farmers lose income by exceeding stocking rate limits in the Nitrates Regulations, the Department of Agriculture has said.

The Department advises that farmers can avoid these penalties by taking action during the year.

Farmers can avoid penalties through a range of options, including exporting slurry during the year to less intensively stocked farms or renting extra land and submitting the appropriate forms to the Department.

Another option is monitoring their livestock numbers throughout the year and reducing them where there is a risk of exceeding the limit.

The Department has encouraged all farmers who exported slurry, rented extra land or temporarily moved cattle to another holding to submit the appropriate forms as soon as possible (not later than December 31) to the Nitrates section, Johnstown Castle, Wexford.

Minister Creed said “I very much welcome that the IFA are leading the fifth annual Farm Safety Week.  It is important that every organisation involved in agriculture continually raises the need for farmers to farm safely”.   

This initiative along with others such as the recent HSA Farm Safety campaign at the end of April which focused on the safe use of tractors and machinery, are very important in increasing awareness of the unacceptable level of farm accidents that occur every year within our industry and the need for continual awareness of farm safety. 

It is important to remember that farms are both work places and family homes and it is important that the whole family is alert to the risks that exist on farms.  Great care is required to ensure that tragic accidents do not occur.  One of the first steps in helping to achieve a safe farm is for farmers to adhere to the Farm Safety Code of practice and to review their Farm Risk Assessment. 

Minister Creed added, “While there are many risks in farming, farming does not have to be a dangerous occupation.  Behavioural change is what is required to prevent many accidents.  It is a case of being aware of the dangers and taking the time to do what is necessary to minimise the risk.  There are plenty of ways to reduce the danger, without spending huge money.  The first of these is to complete a Farm Risk Assessment”.   

Minster Creed Announces €13.4m Basic Payment Scheme Refund to 98,000 farmers

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., today announced the commencement of payments of over €13.4 million to approximately 98,000 farmers. This money was deducted from their 2017 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments under the Financial Discipline rule, and is now being reimbursed in line with the EU regulations.

Minister Creed said ‘I am pleased to confirm that these payments totaling €13.4 million are now being reimbursed to eligible farmers.’  The Minister added that “these payments will bring the total paid to Irish farmers under the 2018 Basic Payment Scheme to €1.19 billion”.

Note to editors

In the context of the annual budgetary procedure of the European Union, the financial discipline mechanism which is implemented by the Member States involves a monetary deduction (1.4% for the 2018 reduction) from some direct payments thereby creating a financial Crisis Reserve for the European Union. The crisis reserve is intended to provide additional support for the agricultural sector in the case of major crises affecting agricultural production or distribution. In the event that the Crisis Reserve is not activated in the financial year, or it is not fully utilised, the balance not used is refunded to farmers in the subsequent financial year, hence this reimbursement.

Minister Creed noted the shared concerns both he and Minister Guillaume have on the current state of play in these negotiations. Speaking following the meeting, the Minister said: “This was a very useful engagement with a Member State that has long been an ally of Ireland on many aspects of agricultural policy, and particularly in relation to the potential impact of an EU-Mercosur deal. We agreed that there are strong reasons for concern about the possible conclusion of such a deal in the short-term, with specialist beef farmers in both Ireland and France being particularly exposed to negative impacts. We will remain in close contact on this issue over the coming period.”

Minister Creed recalled the concerted efforts that have been made - and continue to be made - by Ireland, France and other Member States to defend the interests of the EU agriculture sector in the EU-Mercosur negotiations.

These have been going on for many years, and have included joint initiatives on issues such as the Commission conducting a Cumulative Impact Assessment on the effect of quota concessions across a range of trade negotiations on the sector, the exclusion of a beef tariff rate quota from negotiations in 2016, and the ongoing efforts to avoid any further concessions in the latest phase of negotiations. Most recently, Heads of State and Government from Ireland, France, Poland and Belgium have written to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urging no further agriculture concessions, and Ministers Creed and Humphreys have written to Commissioners Hogan and Malmström to the same effect.

Minister Creed also met Commissioner Hogan to express his deep concern about news of momentum behind a Mercosur deal.  He urged that there should be no further concessions on beef, which has been identified by the Commission’s own analysis as a vulnerable sector.

In other bilateral meetings en marge of the EU-AU Ministerial Conference, Minister Creed also met:

• New Zealand’s Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor – discussions focused on existing and future cooperation between both countries in relation to climate change and agriculture.
• Egypt’s Agriculture Minister DR Ezz El-Din Abu Steit – discussions focused on Ireland’sAgri food exports and technical cooperation.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, T.D. today announced a simplification of requirements under the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) in relation to the eligibility of Stock Bulls under the programme.

Participants in the programme using a stock bull are required to have at least one bull on their holding on the 30^th of June 2019 who was a minimum of 12 months old and was rated at 4 or 5 stars on the Replacement and/or Terminal Index, within and/or across breed on the first genomic evaluation or the genomic evaluation at the time of purchase.

There are 2 simplifications to this requirement:

• Where a bull on the holding had a published genomic evaluation and had been deemed ineligible as it was rated at 3 stars or less on that first genotyping evaluation, it can now be deemed eligible if the bull is now rated at 4 or 5 stars.
• Where bull is in the herd on the 30 of June but has yet to be sampled, once a sample is received by the lab on or before the 30 June and the genotyping process has commenced, this will be considered eligible provided the bull is rated 4 or 5 stars on its subsequent genomic evaluation. This will mean that the July 2019 evaluation (published 22 July) and the Sept 2019 evaluation (published 23 Sep) will now be counted for eligibility purposes.

Minister Creed said “I am pleased to announce this simplification of the Stock Bull requirement under Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP).  Officials from my Department have been working closely with their counterparts in the ICBF on this issue and I feel this pragmatic approach to what is a key requirement should lead to as many participants as possible receiving their full payment in 2019 under this important Programme. They have identified a number of herds that are currently not meeting this requirement and will be contacting them in the coming days to advise them of their obligations under the Programme.”

KT NATIONAL EVENTS

28/06/2019   Beef event run by Teagasc - Catherine Egan And Animal Health Ireland  on the Farm of David Mc Keague, Claggan, Culdaff, Co. Donegal 11.00am to 1.00pm 10.45am to 11.45am BEEF ONLY EVENT

04/07/2019   Sheepevent run by Sheep Ireland / Kevin McDermott at Rathgreedan House, Rathgreedan, Edenderry, Co. Offaly 7.00pm to 9.00pm 6.45pm to 7.45pm

HEALTH AND SAFETY COURSE FOR TAMS

We are currently taking names for participants for a health and safety course for anyone that has submitted a TAMS application. It is a requirement under TAMS that you have to complete a Health and safety course before you can submit your application for payment.

If you have submitted an application for a TAMS and need to complete, a Health and Safety course contact our office for full details of cost and when the course is running and the location.

OBJECIVES

To further increase economic and environmental efficiency in the suckler herd through better quality data on herd performance, supporting decision making on farm.

ELIGIBILITY

The Pilot will be open to all suckler beef farmers who commit to completing the mandatory action required within the duration of the Pilot.

• Action: weigh unweaned calf and their dam and submitting weight records to ICBF

• Payment will be on beef breed (dam and sire) animals born in the herd between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019.

• Application window for inclusion in the pilot is 4 February and 22 February 2019.

1. 1.SOIL TESTING  

• Provides you with vital information about your soils
• • A foundation for your fertilizer plan
• • A small farm expense costing in the region of €1.25/ha/yr and is valid for 5 years
•  • A standard soil test will give the soils fertility status as follows; pH, lime requirement, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).

1. 2.SOIL PH & LIME

• Lime improves the availability of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulphur, Calcium and Magnesium

• Lime at least every 5 years

• Ground limestone can be spread at any time

• Apply lime as per soil test report. Avoid over-liming as it can result in trace element imbalances.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., today announced details of additional one to one clinics for farmers who are making their Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) application online.  Closing date for the receipt of all online BPS and transfer of entitlement applications is Wednesday 15 May.

In recent weeks, the Department has been holding clinics for farmers around the country to assist them in making their BPS and Transfer of Entitlements applications online.  The Minister commented “online applications bring a range of benefits for farmers, and I am committed to ensuring that farmers have all the assistance they require in order to make these applications for essential scheme payments.  With this in mind, I have asked officials in my Department to put in place a further set of one to one clinics for farmers as the deadline of 15 May approaches.”

The details of these clinics are as follows

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine advises farmers in relation to the predicted risk of infection in lambs based on the advice received from the Nematodirus Advisory Group.

The disease

Nematodirosis is a severe disease of lambs six to twelve weeks of age which become infected through ingesting large numbers of infective larvae present on contaminated pasture. The life cycle of Nematodirus battus is unlike that of other roundworms in that typically it takes almost a year before the egg hatches releasing the infective larva. There is a mass hatching of larvae in spring when the soil temperature increases after a period of cold weather and disease typically occurs in April, May and June.

After ingestion Nematodirus larvae invade the intestinal mucosa and infection is characterised by profuse diarrhoea, dehydration and weight loss. In outbreak scenarios, lambs can be seen congregating around water troughs due to the severe thirst that develops, while the ewes which are unaffected continue to graze.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine advises farmers in relation to the predicted risk of infection in lambs based on the advice received from the Nematodirus Advisory Group.

The disease

Nematodirosis is a severe disease of lambs six to twelve weeks of age which become infected through ingesting large numbers of infective larvae present on contaminated pasture. The life cycle of Nematodirus battus is unlike that of other roundworms in that typically it takes almost a year before the egg hatches releasing the infective larva. There is a mass hatching of larvae in spring when the soil temperature increases after a period of cold weather and disease typically occurs in April, May and June.

After ingestion Nematodirus larvae invade the intestinal mucosa and infection is characterised by profuse diarrhoea, dehydration and weight loss. In outbreak scenarios, lambs can be seen congregating around water troughs due to the severe thirst that develops, while the ewes which are unaffected continue to graze.

IFA Rural Development Chairman Joe Brady has said the first batch of 130 appeals has been sent to the Independent Panel as part of the ANC review.

The Panel was set up to deal with either areas that were taken out or those trying to get in for the first time.  1,500 individual appeals representing 762 townlands have been lodged. The largest number of appeals are from Wexford at 570, with smaller numbers from another 17 counties.

To qualify for the ANC/ASC Scheme you must –

• Hold a valid herd number and farm eligible disadvantaged lands in your own right. 
• Maintain a minimum stocking density of 0.15 livestock units per eligible forage hectare for 7 consecutive months within the 2019 calendar year.
• Maintain an annual average stocking density of 0.15 livestock units per eligible forage hectare for the 2019 calendar year.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., today announced a series of exciting new grants available for Irish farms under the TAMS on-farm investment scheme. The new measure will make €10m worth of grants available for energy efficiencies and renewable energy technologies, following a comprehensive review of the TAMS scheme designed to increase its focus on sustainability.