McEntee says beef Brexit fund directed at farmers, not factories

The new €100 million Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) announced by Agriculture Minister Michael Creed has been welcomed by Minister for European Affairs Helen McEntee.

 Ms McEntee said that this scheme will be targeted at the most vulnerable beef farmers around Ireland and none of this fund will be available for owners of beef factories.
 
“Beef farmers in Ireland are in the midst of market volatility and uncertainty as a result of Brexit," she stated. "This measure will be of assistance to the most vulnerable beef farmers in Ireland to assist them during the current period. 
 
“The measure will be funded by a combination of EU exceptional aid and Exchequer support and will open for applications during the third week of August 2019. Applications will be accepted online through AgFood.ie.  
 
“BEAM is a demand-led, voluntary scheme. Farmers who meet the initial eligibility criteria will then have to commit to meeting the following conditions in order to qualify for aid. Each participant must:
 
Be a member of a Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme or a DAFM environmental scheme; and reduce the production of bovine livestock manure nitrogen (total figure) per herd by 5% for a target period (1 July 2020 - 30 June 2021) compared to a reference period (1 July 2018 – 30 June 2019).
 
Aid will be paid on adult cattle slaughtered between 24 September 2018 and 12 May 2019, at a rate of €100 per animal subject to a maximum of 100 finished animals per herd.
Aid will also be paid on suckler cows that calved in 2018, at a rate of €40 per animal subject to a maximum of 40 sucklers per herd.
Dairy herds are not eligible for the measure, with the exception of dairy herds of less than 40 dairy cows. Smaller dairy farms typically have a mixed farming enterprise, with a lower than average dairy farm income, and a beef enterprise accounting for a higher proportion of total farm income.  
Animals controlled by slaughtering establishments, and dealer/agent herds, are not eligible for this financial aid.
In the event BEAM is oversubscribed, payment rates may be subject to minor revision.
 
“I encourage beef farmers who feel they meet the above criteria to apply when the scheme opens in a few weeks’ time so that they can avail of the financial supports that are now in place," Ms McEntee stated.

ICSA president Edmond Phelan has welcomed clarification on the division of the €100m fund in Beef Exceptional Aid Measures, saying that the objective now must be to get the money to farmers promptly. “The money must be distributed as quickly as possible. We are disappointed that EU funding rules say it can’t be paid until 16th October, but we see this as the latest acceptable date for funds to arrive in farmers’ accounts. The beef trade is deteriorating every week and this fund is only a drop in the ocean compared to the losses being sustained by farmers.”   
 
Mr Phelan said he was disappointed that the upper limit for finishers has remained at 100 head of cattle. “Losses for those who sold above that number during the timeframe will be significant. If however the scheme is undersubscribed, ICSA will be pushing to see that the maximum payment is increased accordingly.” 

Mr Phelan also noted that certain terms and conditions attached to the scheme remain problematic, most notably, the requirement to reduce by 5% the production of bovine livestock manure nitrogen per herd. “Progress with this will have to be monitored closely to ensure that compliance with this measure is achieved and we have to seek some flexibility with this. ICSA is adamant that no farmer loses out as a result of this bureaucratic requirement. ICSA will be insisting that the Department outlines its plans to ensure that farmers are given assistance on an ongoing basis over the period July 2020-June 2021 to help them comply with this requirement.”  

“Now though, the priority is to ensure that all those who are eligible to apply for the scheme do so.”

Reacting to the exclusion of dairy farmers with herds in excess of 40 cows, the president of ICMSA said that the decision was “unjust, unfair and had set a disastrous precedent”.  Pat McCormack said that the exclusion would have long-term negative effects and could only be interpreted as the Government conceding to the ‘loudest voices’ as opposed to the ‘fairest argument’. Mr McCormack said ICMSA profoundly condemned the decision and warned that dairy farmers unfairly shut out of a compensation scheme which they had every right to expect to share, would absolutely not forget this deliberate snub.

“We have been reasonable every step of the way on this question and ICMSA has very deliberately not indulged in the kind of farmer-against-farmer antics that we have seen from others. But we all know where we stand now: the net effect of this decision – however Minister Creed wants to justify it – is that full-time farmers will be shut out of the BEAM fund while part-time farmers – some of whom are professionals with significant off-farm incomes – are being included. That’s the bottom line here. And as far as we’re concerned it’s an unfair, unjust bottom line that sets a disastrous precedent”, said Mr McCormack.

“ICMSA makes no apology for representing the interests of full-time family dairy farms; but we have never actively torn down the interests of other groups. We had a right to expect that family dairy farms who met all the criteria around losing money on beef through Brexit would be included in the fund. It’s worth pointing out that the Department used the slaughter figures from both beef and dairy farmers to justify the funding in the first place. Unfortunately, the Department appears to have sided with groups who – to get more for themselves – argued for the exclusion of dairy farmers on spurious grounds. We think that a serious mistake has been made and a serious injustice inflicted on full-time family farms by the Department and those who argued – without a shred of consistency or solidarity – that those family farms should be cut out of a fund to which they were perfectly eligible. It’s a bad day for the Department – and a very bad day for Irish farming”, concluded the ICMSA President.