21 DECEMBER 2017

ICSA sheep chairman John Brooks has called for the reopening of the Sheep Welfare Scheme to facilitate those who did not participate in the scheme in 2017. “There has been a significant underspend in the in the first year and on that basis I would urge the Department to show flexibility on the issue and facilitate those wishing to join for 2018 and beyond.”

“This is the first sheep scheme of its kind and there was pressure on all sides to get the scheme together quickly. Credit must be given to the Department that it was up and running in 2017 and that payments were made on time. However, it was never made clear that failure to apply for the scheme in 2017 would mean that farmers would be locked out for 2018. Many farmers and planners were completely unaware of this.”

“ICSA believes there should be no reason that farmers who, for a variety of reasons, did not apply in 2017 should be denied the opportunity to participate in the scheme in 2018 under the same criteria.”

ENDS