A further 8,600 beef farmers must hand back BEAM payments

The farmers are predicted to miss the minimum 4% reduction and therefore face full recoupment of their payment

Almost 19,000 farmers have met the original scheme requirements successfully, by reducing production of bovine livestock manure nitrogen on their holdings by 5%. Picture: iStock

Another 8,600 beef farmers are on course to join the 3,600 who will have to hand back payments from the Beef Emergency Aid Measure (BEAM) scheme.

The €77m payment scheme required participating farmers to reduce by 5% their bovine organic nitrogen produced on the farm, over two years.