Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan and Monaghan, Brendan Smith has welcomed payments of €127,684 to 97 local beef farmers under the 2021 Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP).
Deputy Brendan Smith commented, “I am delighted to see the commencement of payments under the 2021 BDGP scheme. 52 participants of the scheme in County Cavan have received €59,620 in payments, while in County Monaghan, 45 participants received €68,064 in total.
“The BDGP has proven itself to be a hugely successful scheme that has supported beef farmer incomes and driven greater levels of efficiency in our world-class suckler herd.”
The Cavan and Monaghan TD added: “My colleague, and Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue stated that he hopes to build on the gains made under the BDGP through the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Scheme under the next CAP which will see participants earn €150/cow on the first 10 cows which is up from €90/cow on the first 10 cows under the BDGP.”
A one-year transitional Beef Data and Genomics Programme for 2021 saw 17,700 of the original scheme’s participants opt to continue in the scheme for 2021 while the second tranche of the original Programme, Beef Data and Genomics Programme II, has 1,450 participants and will end in 2022.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue added: “In the past week alone, we have issued over €70m to our beef and suckler farmers through our innovative schemes. The payments under the BDGP are in addition to the €42 million that issued last week under the 2021 BEEP S and Dairy Programmes to over 30,000 participants”.
Further Beef Data and Genomics Programme payments will continue to issue on an ongoing basis as more farmers verify their compliance with the 2021 scheme requirements. The Minister urged participating farmers “to return all surveys and genotyping samples and/or complete the carbon navigator update as soon as possible to facilitate payment”.
The Minister also added that, “Approval has been received for the continuity of many farm schemes in 2022, including the Beef Data and Genomics Programme. In that context, my Department since the 18th November 2021 has been accepting applications from participants in the 2021 Beef Data and Genomics Programme transitional scheme to participate in a further one-year extension of Beef Data and Genomics Programme for 2022. The closing date for receipt of applications is 5pm on 20th December 2021.
ENDS
15/12/2021