Beef farmers get €31.4m boost

Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh yesterday announced a €31.4 million national envelope package for beef farmers.

He said that the funds which were available for distribution in 2004 were in additional to the allocation of €824 million that would be spent next year in supporting beef producers through the various premium schemes.

In distributing the final national envelope prior to the advent of full decoupling in 2005, the minister decided to continue with the three support measures already in place.