Applications open for critical BEAM funding
THE €100m Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) will open for applications on Monday and close on September 8.
Agriculture Minister Michael Creed said the scheme will provide some additional income support at a very critical time.
The measure will be funded by a combination of EU exceptional aid and exchequer support.
He said the prolonged period of depressed prices and ongoing uncertainty surrounding the outcome of Brexit, has led to a difficult period of market disturbance.
Minister Creed said the scheme is designed to make the application as user-friendly and accessible as possible for farmers. BEAM, coupled with the Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot, provides up to €120m for the beef sector in 2019.
Farmers who meet the initial eligibility criteria will have to commit to meeting conditions in order to qualify for the aid.
The money will be paid on adult cattle slaughtered between September 24, 2018 and May 12, 2019, at a rate of €100 per animal, subject to a maximum of 100 finished animals per herd.
It will also be paid on suckler cows that calved in 2018, at a rate of €40 per animal, subject to a maximum of 40 per herd.
Dairy herds are not eligible for the measure, with the exception of those with less than 40 dairy cows. Smaller dairy farms typically have mixed enterprise including beef.
IFA Livestock Committee chairman Angus Woods said all the money must be paid to farmers as soon as possible as they are in real financial need because of the crisis in the sector.
