What the Sheep Welfare Scheme is

The Sheep Welfare Scheme provides financial support to farmers for taking extra steps to improve the welfare of their flock. Farmers get €10 per breeding ewe for completing flock welfare measures.

Annual sheep and goat census forms have issued to over 47,000 sheep and goat keepers registered with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

The Department selected Friday 31st December as the 2020 census date. Keepers are required to record the census data on their flock registers. Keepers should be aware that completion and return of the census is a legal obligation.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, T.D., announced today the commencement of balancing payments under Year 3 of the Sheep Welfare Scheme.  The Scheme is co-funded by the European Union as part of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme, 2014-2020.

Minister Creed stated, “I am happy to confirm that the issuing of the 15% balancing payments under the Sheep Welfare Scheme has now commenced. This payment amounts to €1.82M, and is a welcome financial support at this time when farmers are facing challenging circumstances.”

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, TD, today announced that advance payments under year 2 Sheep Welfare Scheme have commenced on time this week to all eligible farmers. 

Agri-environment programmes

The allocation for GLAS 2019 is €203m. This will also include some residual cases of farmers who are

still in AEOS. The Organics scheme was allocated €11m with additional €1.2m for the development of

the Organics sector.

There is provision for new entrants into the scheme.

For the purposes of the scheme, a new entrant to this scheme is defined as an

applicant who has applied for a new herd number from 1st January 2017

This year’s sheep census must be returned to the department by the 31st of January. If you are posting your census make sure and register post it and hold on to the receipt as it is the only acceptable proof of postage in the case of a dispute. The number of sheep that you put on your census should be the amount of sheep in your flock on the 31st of December 2017.

Lameness Control

Under this option scheme participants must carry out a minimum of five lameness examinations per year, and complete the relevant section for Lameness Control in the Scheme Action Record Book.

The Sheep Welfare Scheme is being introduced to contribute to the continued development in animal and health welfare in the sheep sector and will require farmers to go beyond the relevant mandatory standards to improve the standards of animal welfare in the Irish Sheep Flock.