BEAM: Farmers caught out by associated herds
About 22,000 participants met all their BEAM commitments and successfully exited the scheme with payment.
The fallout from the BEAM scheme continues, with one farmer having been found to increase bovine livestock manure nitrogen by 60%, rather than the 5% reduction required to qualify for the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) payment.
Over 33,000 farmers took part in BEAM in 2019, and about €78 million in payments were issued to them. However, 11,589 farmers were subsequently found not to have satisfied the scheme's conditions, and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) proceeded to claw back a total of €18.6m from them.
