The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has confirmed that payments have begun to farmers for year two of the Beef Carbon Reduction (BCR) Scheme.

Payments commenced today (Monday, March 9) with 99% of eligible businesses being issued with a total of £19.6 million for 262,132 eligible animals.

The scheme encourages beef farmers to reduce the slaughter age of cattle with the view to improving overall industry efficiency and to reduce its carbon footprint.

The BCR, which was launched in 2024, is seen as a key element of Northern Ireland's Sustainable Agriculture Programme.

Payments are capped at a maximum of 352,000 animals in Northern Ireland per scheme year to comply with World Trade Organisation (WTO) requirements.

DAERA

DAERA Minister Andrew Muir the "strong start to payments" represents "another successful milestone for the scheme" which he said seeks to support the beef sector in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while improving productivity.

In its second year (2025), the scheme’s maximum age at slaughter target was 28 months.

This has now reduced to 27 months for animals slaughtered in 2026; the third year of the scheme.

The scheme will provide the farmer with funding of £75 for each eligible animal slaughtered.

Minister Muir said he was pleased to see payments issuing promptly under the Beef Carbon Reduction Scheme.

"Since the scheme commenced it has resulted in a 43.1 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (ktCO2e) reduction in carbon emissions and a 177.7 tonnes of ammonia nitrogen (tNH₃ N) reduction in ammonia emissions, highlighting the positive role farmers continue to play in tackling climate change," he said.

DAERA said that payments will continue to issue to remaining farm businesses once validations are completed.

Registered online users of eligible farm businesses will receive their payment notification via DAERA messaging.

Agents will also receive the payment notification via DAERA message on behalf of the clients they opted in.