ICMSA: Farmers 'frustrated' with Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme
Farmers are "frustrated and irritated" over issues that they have identified with the National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme (NDBWS), a farm organisation warned today (Thursday, April 16).
Earlier this week the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon announced the opening of the 2026 National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme (NDBWS).
The €4 million scheme, which is designed to support farmers rearing progeny from the dairy herd, is unchanged from last year's version - which according to the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) is the root of the problem.
Michael O Connell, chair of ICMSA's Livestock Committee, said farmers believe the Department of Agriculture, Food the Marine (DAFM) has not made any move to "remedy" problems identified with the 2025 NDBWS.
O'Connell said: "The minister should know better than setting out that a farmer can claim €20 per head on a maximum of 50 calves when the 2025 scheme was completely oversubscribed and the same is likely to happen in 2026.
"Last year participants received a linear cut in the number of eligible payable calves which was reduced to 31 from 50 outlined in the terms and conditions.
"We don’t think it’s acceptable to lead farmers into a false sense of expectation here and be over selling the scheme when we all know that it’s almost certain that the payments will fall short again based on an already insufficient budget".
He has also criticised the application process for the scheme, questioning why farmers who had already been accepted one year would not be "automatically enrolled" in it for the following year.
“Why not just roll it on from 2025 considering everything is, frustratingly, the exact same?" O'Connell added.
Dairy Beef scheme
The chair of ICMSA's Livestock Committee said while the opening of the 2026 scheme is "welcome", there is also a failure to recognise the cost pressures farmers are battling with.
O'Connell said: "€20 per calf wouldn’t buy a half bag of milk replacer.
"Calf-to-Beef systems have become extremely costly; extremely specialised and the return on investment is a good two-year process."
According to Minister Heydon Minister Heydon the (NDBWS) "is intended to offer diversification opportunities for dairy and beef farmers".
"Calf-to-beef systems are specialised operations. This weighing action helps farmers with decision-making regarding their stock, while also providing more accurate data on herd performance at national level.
"This scheme targets farmers rearing dairy beef progeny from the dairy herd, whether they are dairy farmers rearing their own calves or non-dairy farmers rearing dairy beef calves," Minister Heydon said this week.
However the ICMSA today called for the minister to "set up and fund a decent scheme that recognises the cost and time allocated to dairy beef production".
It also wants the government to review its decision not to fund the bluetongue vaccination through NDBWS.
