ICMSA say 32,000 need €25 top-up to the SFP

ICMSA has proposed that €25 per breeding cow be made available from the Single Farm Payment National Reserve to more than 32,000 farmers who did not apply for the Special Beef Premium for all of their male calves.

In its proposal to the Government, the association warned that cattle breeding in parts of the country will cease or be substantially reduced, and land abandonment is a distinct possibility, unless the farmers who traded 335,000 male calves and weanlings without claiming a premium are catered for.

Otherwise, says ICMSA, the Single Farm Payment system could end Ireland’s long established pattern of cattle trading, causing major income loss for about one farmer in four.