Rights Group seeks dairy cattle welfare-aid payment
Comments and submissions on the programme will be accepted by the Department of Agriculture and Food until December 7, and Donie Shine, the Mallow, Co Cork farmer who heads up the Rights Group has called on farmers and politicians to support their bid for five year funding of up to €200 per cow per year for the first 50 cows in herd.
The payment would be conditional on herdowners going beyond normal Good Farming Practice to achieve certain animal welfare standards, designed to reduce stress and improve milk quality, and lower the incidence of mastitis and high cell counts.
The National Milk Rights Group successfully campaigned during the 1990s to secure millions of gallons of extra milk quota for development farmers.
Meanwhile, IFA has commissioned Teagasc Moorepark to cost their proposal for a Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme.
IFA President Padraig Walshe said the objective would be to improve the performance, health and welfare of dairy cows, to help dairy farmers maximise milk solids, particularly protein. Farmers would take part in a detailed breeding and milk-recording programme over five years.
The Draft Rural Development Programme already includes a welfare and quality improvement scheme for the suckler herd.
Payment of 80 per suckler cow is proposed for farmers who undertake to comply with six animal welfare measures related to animal events recording, disbudding of calves, castration of calves, minimum calving age, weaning best practice and replacement of female breeding stock.
Disbudding within three weeks of birth, castration at least four weeks before weaning, calving at 24 months, completion of weaning at least two weeks before sale, and genetic upgrading of replacements are among measures required to qualify for the payment.
