IFA Livestock Chairman Brendan Golden said the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme scheme is an important first step in support of suckler farmers but is only the start.
Mr Golden said the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue was widely quoted in his interviews following Budget ’23 last October, promising a further €90/cow in the BEEP-s replacement scheme.
“A fully-funded BEEP-s scheme with €90/cow, along with the SCEP scheme, has the potential to return €240/cow on the first 22 cows on suckler farms,” he said.
“This would be a critical support for the sector to help arrest the decline in suckler cow numbers and support this low-income vulnerable sector from the input cost volatility which the sector cannot absorb”.
