The Importance of Opting into Beef Carbon Reduction Scheme and Suckler Cow Scheme

County Fermanagh countryside. Picture: Cliff Donaldson

Commodity Watch written by Kellie McEvoy

Farmers in Northern Ireland rely heavily on direct support payments to help keep their farm businesses viable, particularly during years of poor market prices. Over recent years, farm support payments have evolved from direct land-based payments to a range of targeted schemes, and further changes are expected over the coming years.

The first significant changes included the Beef Carbon Reduction Scheme (BCRS), the Suckler Cow Scheme, and the Protein Scheme, which were funded through a 17% reduction in direct support payments. For both the BCRS and the Suckler Cow Scheme, farmers simply need to opt into the scheme and meet the relevant targets. For the BCRS, cattle must be finished within the required age limit for the scheme year. For the Suckler Cow Scheme, farmers must meet targets relating to calving interval and age at first calving. Farmers opt in once and no annual application or submission is required.

Payments under the BCRS are £75 per eligible animal, are issued each March, while Suckler Cow Scheme payments are £100 per eligible animal are due to commence from 25^th June.

Despite these schemes being relatively straightforward to access, uptake has not reached 100%. As a result, many eligible farm businesses are missing out on valuable payments, despite already having seen a reduction in their direct support payments to fund these schemes.

Meeting the targets for slaughter age, calving interval, and age at first calving may not always be easy for every farm business. However, if farmers do not opt into the schemes, they have no opportunity to receive any payment. Importantly, there is no penalty if individual animals fail to meet the targets.

Farmers are once again encouraged to check their BCRS and Suckler Cow Scheme portal accounts to ensure they are opted into the schemes and do not miss out on valuable support payments.

Currently, around 1,600 farm businesses have not opted into the Suckler Cow Scheme. As a result, approximately 9,200 eligible calving events cannot receive payment. These businesses are collectively missing out on around £920,000 in support payments simply because they have not completed the opt-in process. Many of these farms are already meeting the scheme targets but, unfortunately, are not being rewarded because they are not registered for the scheme.

Looking ahead, 2027 is currently proposed to be the final year of the Beef Carbon Reduction Scheme, with the target slaughter age set at 26 months or under. At present, DAERA has no plans to continue the scheme beyond 2027. The UFU is continuing to lobby DAERA to extend the scheme beyond 2027, recognising the important role it plays in encouraging farmers to reduce slaughter age and improve efficiency within the beef sector.

The current target for 2026 the BCRS is target slaughter age of 27 months and under and the Suckler Cow Scheme from 1^st April 2026 to 31^st March 2027 is calving interval target of 405 days and age of first calving target of 32 months and under.

As farm support continues to evolve, it is essential that farmers stay informed, engage with available schemes and maximise every opportunity to secure financial support for their businesses. By doing so, they can strengthen the profitability and sustainability of their farm enterprises while ensuring that funding already redirected from direct support payments is returned to farm businesses. Taking the time to review scheme participation and monitor performance against targets could make a significant difference to farm income and farm business viability.