Get Your Application for the New Sheep Scheme in by January 31
Sheep farmers have under Tuesday, January 31st to return applications for the new sheep scheme, worth €10 per ewe.
As well as the ongoing Department of Agriculture meetings, IFA is holding meetings on the sheep scheme including in Bunclody, Co Wexford on Tuesday 24th January and Tuam Co Galway on Thursday 26th January. Go along to hear speakers from the IFA, Department of Agriculture, the Farmers Journal and Bord Bia.
The €25m scheme secured by IFA will provide €10 per ewe to farmers for undertaking actions to make a positive contribution to flock welfare.
Application forms have issued to all sheep farmers and must be returned by January 31st 2017.
How the scheme works
Under the scheme farmers will be required to choose actions which can improve the overall welfare of a flock. These actions will be chosen from a menu from which farmers must choose two actions, based on whether the farmer has a lowland flock or hill flock. These actions must be completed over a 12 month period. In return the farmer will receive a payment of €10 per breeding ewe, depending on the average number of ewes held on their farm in the years 2014 and 2015.
Payment is €10 per breeding ewe. The number of allowable ewes for each participant will be calculated as the average number of ewes in their 2014 and 2015 sheep census.
The farmer is required to maintain the reference number of ewes which will form part of the inspection process.
There is provision for new entrants to join where they do not have 2014/15 ewe numbers on which to base a reference number. A new entrant to this scheme is defined as an applicant who has applied for a new herd number from 1st January 2016 and before the closing date of the scheme in 2017 or an applicant with an existing herd number who has not held or traded in sheep for a two year period up to 31st October preceding the scheme year.
The actions for the scheme are outlined below. Farmers will either be in the hill or lowland sector and must choose one action from Category A plus one action from one Category B.
Lowland Flock | Hill Flock |
Category A | Category A |
Lameness Control | Mineral Supplementation Ewes post mating |
Mineral Supplementation Ewes post mating | Meal feeding lambs post weaning* |
Category B | Category B |
Parasite Control (Faecal Egg Count) | Parasite Control (Faecal Egg Count) |
Flystrike control | Mineral Supplementation Lambs Pre weaning* |
Scanning | Scanning |