The Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme (DBWS) will reopen for new applicants tomorrow (Tuesday, April 21).

The DBWS has a budget of €25 million over four years (2024-2027) and is co-funded by the EU as part of the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP).

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon said today (Monday, April 20) that the scheme demonstrates the commitment of the governmenet to support "greater integration of the dairy and beef herds to improve the quality, welfare and viability of male calves from dairy herds.”

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has outlined that the DBWS is a breeding measure "providing support to dairy farmers to improve the animal health and welfare of the national dairy herd by using genetically superior beef sires for breeding dairy beef calves".

Under the terms of the scheme, participants are required to use artificial insemination (AI) straws or stock bulls with a minimum rating of three stars on the ICBF Dairy Beef Index (DBI) and on the beef sub-index of the DBI.

This marks the third year of the scheme as part of the CAP Strategic Plan, payments of €5.98 million had issued to an estimated 9,175 farmers in February 2026 who had eligible calves born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025.

According to DAFM, to be eligible for DBWS you must:

Be aged 18 or over on the date of submission of the application for participation;
Be the owner of an active herd number with Herd Owner status, herd keeper is not acceptable;
Submit a valid Basic Income Support for Sustainability application (BISS) on a yearly basis;
Be an active farmer.

Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme

Eligible farmers must also have:

A male or female calf sired by a beef breed born to a dairy dam;
These eligible calves must have been, born on the holding within the scheme year and be tagged and registered within 27 days of birth.

Minister Heydon has also reminded farmers that if they applied for the CSP Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme in 2024 or 2025 they "do not need to reapply" as their participation in the scheme. will automatically continue.”

DAFM has confirmed that farmers who are accepted into the scheme will receive a payment of €20 per eligible calf up to a maximum of 50 calves per holding.

The closing date for new new applicants to apply for the CSP Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme is 23:59 on May 15, 2026.