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The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, TD, today announced the commencement of payments to almost 26,000 suckler cow farmers under the 2013 Beef Data Programme. “I am pleased that these payments will begin issuing to suckler farmers participating in this programme this week”, the Minister said.

Some €10 million has been provided from Single Farm Payment Scheme (SPS) unused funds for the Beef Data Programme (BDP) for animals born during 2013 and a similar level of funding from unused SPS funds is provided for animals born during 2014. This Programme assists farmers in improving the genetic quality of their livestock, while maintaining a flow of crucial data to Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) that will generate advances in cattle breeding at national level. In addition, a further €23 million of National Exchequer funding has been provided for the Beef Genomics Scheme (BGS) 2014.

Minister Coveney went on to say that “I am conscious that suckler farmers have been dealing with a challenging first six months of the year and the commencement of these payments will be welcome in that regard. The suckler herd is the seed bed for a quality beef industry involving more than 100,000 farm families, employing almost 8,000 people in processing, sales and marketing, and driving exports valued at approximately €1.8 billion per annum. The Beef Data Programme in conjunction with the Beef Genomics Scheme increases the breeding data available and harnesses technology in a way that improves efficiency and ultimately profitability at farm level.

I am convinced that the combination of these and other measures will make a major contribution to the expansion of beef output and greater market penetration”.