Fianna Fail wants changes to beef scheme

The Government is coming under pressure to reverse beef sector cuts to help hard-pressed farmers tackle the challenges of Brexit and low prices for their stock.

Fianna Fail agriculture spokesman Charlie McConalogue yesterday said Agriculture Minister Michael Creed must change his approach to the new Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot (BEEP) suckler scheme. The scheme targets the weaning efficiency of suckler cows and calves — measuring the live weight of the calf at weaning as a percentage of the cow’s live weight.

A €20m budget has been set for the programme. In the event of oversubscription, there may be a linear reduction to each payment, said the Minister — a comment which will “gravely concern tens of thousands of suckler farmers who were considering signing up,” said Mr McConalogue.