Michael Moynihan
Question:495. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total annual funding being invested in incentivising the use of genetically enhanced beef AI/stock bulls. [41063/24]
View answerTuesday, 15 October 2024
Questions (495)
Written answers
My Department's investment in improving the genetic merit of beef sires in the national herd is spread across three separate measures as described below.
The national Bovine Genotyping Programme, which commenced in 2023 for a five year period, is open to both dairy and beef breeding herds. The programme through the genotyping of the calf crop each year in the participating herds provides the building blocks for breeding decisions and strategies.
The year one cost of €10.7m was fully funded by my Department. The total estimated cost of €15m for each subsequent year will be funded using a strategic public/private cost sharing model between my Department, Industry (milk and dairy processors) and participating farmers. My Department's contribution will amount to €5m per year over that period.
The CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) supports farmers in improving the environmental sustainability of the Irish beef production system by incentivising participants to undertake mandatory actions that will improve the overall genetic merit of the suckler herd. One of these actions is the use of eligible (higher genetic merit) bull/AI.
To date, total payments of €56.5m were issued to almost 17,000 participants in respect of year one of the SCEP, which equates to an average payment of approximately €3,300 per beneficiary. A similar payment run is envisaged in subsequent years.
The CSP Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme provides support to dairy farmers to improve the animal health and welfare of the national herd by using better genetic merit beef sires. The scheme runs from 2024 to 2027 and has a budget allocation of €6.25m annually.
The latest scheme data indicates that approximately 10,500 participants with over 286,000 calves are currently eligible for payment. The actual number of animals on which farmers will ultimately be paid cannot yet be determined because the scheme year coincides with the calendar year. Payments for scheme year one will be made in March 2025 and annually thereafter until 2028.