28th May

ICSA president Patrick Kent has welcomed this morning’s announcement of a one-week extension to the closing date for the Beef Data and Genomics Scheme.

“ICSA lobbied strongly for this extension at our meeting with the Department last Friday, and we are pleased to see that our concerns and the concerns of our members were taken on board,” he said.

“The extension is a recognition that there simply hasn’t been enough time given to fully explaining the scheme and its possible ramifications to farmers. We are now asking Minister Coveney to use this extra time to resolve all outstanding concerns which are preventing farmers from applying, particularly the six-year contract, issues around star-ratings and unannounced inspections.”

*The closing date for applications has been extended to June 5th.