Ireland's 2026 Beef Welfare Scheme (BWS), worth €28 million, closes for applications at 5:00pm on Wednesday, September 23. The scheme, run by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, aims to make suckler farms more economically efficient and to improve animal health and husbandry.

Its structure is much the same as last year's, with the same broad menu of straightforward measures plus one new option: vaccinating animals against the current strain of the bluetongue virus, which has been confirmed in several Irish herds this month.

Meal feeding is the mandatory element and pays €35 per eligible calf up to a maximum of 45 calves. Martina Harrington, Teagasc beef specialist and manager of the Future Beef Programme, has produced a factsheet with a meal feeding and sale date reckoner to help farmers get the timing right.

"The most important thing to work back from is your planned sale date," Harrington said. "If you are selling weanlings, you should work back at least 43 days from the planned sale date and farmers need to be aware the earliest sale date is 15 days after weaning." She recommends 1kg of meal a day for four weeks before weaning, rising to 2kg per calf per day for the two weeks after.

Five per cent of participating applications will be subject to administrative checks, so farmers should keep receipts and invoices, feed labels, delivery dockets, weaning dates and records of feeding and other actions. Kathleen O'Sullivan reported the deadline for Agriland.

Source: Agriland