Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

446. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps he will take to deal with the complexities and straightjacketing arising from the beef data genomics programme, which has made it over-complicated, and which imposes excessive costs on farmers; if he will make the necessary changes to the programme by addressing these issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20709/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) forms part of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme and will provide suckler farmers in Ireland with funding of some €300 million over the next 6 years. The BDGP builds on the investment in data recording and genomics in recent years, and will ultimately bring about long-term improvements to the sector by fundamentally improving the genetic quality of the beef herd.

The BDGP was launched on 5 May and to-date my Department has received almost 13,000 applications. The BDGP builds on the schemes operated by my Department in recent years and all of the actions will already be familiar to most farmers entering the scheme, including the data recording elements and the genotyping requirements. Participants in the programme will receive a payment of €142.50 per hectare for the first 6.66 payable hectares under the scheme, and €120 per payable hectare after that. Payment to scheme participants is on basis of costs incurred and income foregone for each of the actions undertaken. This is a statutory requirement for RDP schemes. All of the costs to the farmer, including a substantial overhead for time and effort, have been factored into the payment for the farmer as agreed with the European Commission. The payment includes a cost associated with the tissue tag sample and subsequent processing, and this will be deducted at source from the farmer’s payment.

The cost of completing a carbon navigator in conjunction with an approved advisor will be covered separately and will not be deducted from the farmer’s payment. The farmer will also be provided with an additional €166 to compensate for the time and travel costs associated with attending the training course.

There has been some concern regarding the requirement to join the scheme for a 6 year period. This multi-annual approach is required for all EU funded agri-environmental schemes and, in any event, should facilitate long term planning on individual farms. We have also included force majeureclauses in the Terms and Conditions to deal with situations where a farmer has to withdraw from the programme due to circumstances beyond his or her control such as illness or disease. There is also a facility to transfer the land in certain circumstances, including inheritance. In any event, the vast majority of farmers will have far more land than they will need to draw down their full BDGP payment and a re free to dispose of or transfer surplus land as they wish.

The replacement strategy is one of the main new elements of the BDGP. The need for genetic improvement in the Irish suckler herd is widely acknowledged, and the adoption of genomic technology is a critically important tool in increasing production efficiency and ultimately farmer margins. This scheme is putting €300 million into accelerating genetic improvement and so the requirement for farmers to move towards using 4 and 5 star rated stock bulls and heifers is essential to its objectives. I am fully aware that these requirements will take time to introduce which is why there is a 5 year lead-in time provided in the scheme design.

Finally, I would like to add that both my Department and the ICBF have published Questions and Answers documents to address queries being raised by farmers. I also issued some updated information on the contents of the scheme last week, particularly as regards the 6-year requirement and the penalties which apply under the scheme. In addition, farmer’s can consult the Department’s website for more information and I would encourage them to contact the Department’s helpline if they have any further questions.

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

447. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied that it is appropriate to limit the availability of the scheme based on the number of calved cows in 2014, which clearly delimits the ability to expand and increase suckler cow numbers in future years; if farmers could be permitted to apply on all of the suckler cows in their herd in 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20710/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) forms part of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme and will provide suckler farmers in Ireland with funding of some €300 million over the next 6 years. The BDGP builds on the investment in data recording and genomics in recent years, and will ultimately bring about long-term improvements to the sector by fundamentally improving the genetic quality of the beef herd.

The Beef Data and Genomics Programme has been agreed with the European Commission as part of the Rural Development Plan for Ireland. While the BDGP is an area based payment, the area upon which payment is made is based on the number of suckler cows calving in the herd in 2014. It was not possible to select a future date because a scheme approved under the RDP could not provide an incentive for increasing stock numbers.

Selecting 2014 also adds a measure of administrative simplicity for farmers that will facilitate early payments under the scheme. The provisions do, however, allow the use of 2015 as an alternative base on an exceptional basis for new entrants, applicants impacted by force majeurecircumstances in 2014 and for those who would have been excluded from the scheme as a result of a reduction in stock numbers in 2015. Such farmers should apply for the scheme before the 29 May deadline and the decision regarding whether to use 2015 as basis, where appropriate, will be decided after the closing date for applications.

I should also add that the above provisions relate only to the calculation of payment under the BDGP – there is no restriction whatsoever on individual farmers increasing their output and cow numbers during the course of the scheme.