Coronavirus: Irish beef producers to get €10,000 aid payments
Irish beef producers could receive payouts of up to €10,000 (£9,000) each under a government-led scheme to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on farm incomes.
The €50m (£45m) Beef Finishers Payment (BFP) was announced on 5 August by Ireland’s agriculture minister Dara Calleary.
The scheme will pay up to €100/head (£90) to a maximum of 100 animals a herd. The payment is aimed at farms that sold cattle early in the coronavirus crisis when the collapse in the foodservice sector saw Irish beef values plummet.
To qualify, beef animals must have been over eight months old and sent for slaughter between 1 February and 12 June 2020, when prices were at their lowest.
Ireland’s producers were heavily reliant on the UK and EU foodservice sector and its fresh and frozen beef exports were down 35% to the EU and 18% to the UK year-on-year during that time.
The situation was made worse by abattoir closures, which saw outlets dry up and the kill drop by 25%.
by Jonathan Riley
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