Additional flexibility within the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) has been announced by Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue amid uproar among a cohort of farmers over changes to ICBF’s beef indexes.
McConalogue said the changes will mean that SCEP participants who relied upon previous ICBF indexes to ensure that their animals were compliant with SCEP are not disadvantaged by the recent ICBF index changes.
Under the new arrangements, bulls genotyped as 4- or 5-star on the September 2023 ICBF evaluation, which are no longer 4- or 5-star following the index changes on 28 November 2023, will be considered SCEP eligible in the context of action 1 in SCEP (Eligible Bull).
Action 1 of SCEP requires at least 80% of the calves are sired by a 4- or 5-star bull in years 1 or 2 of the programme, increasing to 85% in years 3 and 4 and then ultimately 90% by the end of the programme.
In addition, females genotyped 4- or 5- star on the September 2023 ICBF evaluation and which subsequently fell on the 28 November 2023 evaluation will be considered SCEP eligible under action 2 (female replacement strategy).
This requires 65% of a farmer’s yearly reference number to be genotyped 4- or 5-star females on the replacement index on 31st October 2025, rising to 75% on 31st October 2027.
This is in addition to changes announced in January 2024. These provided that female calves would be considered “SCEP eligible” if, on the September 2023 evaluations, the Dam was 3-, 4- or 5-star and the Sire 4- or 5-star rated on the Replacement index, even if the female calf was not subsequently evaluated as 4- or 5-star in its own right.
There has been no change in the eligibility of male calves, these will be assigned their star rating based on the prevailing indexes if / when they are genotyped.
The Department of Agriculture has said the changes means that bulls which were genotyped 4- or 5-star on the September 2023 evaluations which have fallen in the recent ICBF index change on both the Replacement and Terminal indexes can still be used to meet the requirement within SCEP (Action 1 Eligible Bull) that a certain percentage of calves born must have been sired by a 4- or 5-star bull.
Females that were genotyped 4- or 5-star on the September 2023 evaluation and which subsequently fell on the 28 November 2023 evaluation are considered SCEP eligible. This gives further flexibility for farmers in the scheme.
In practical terms, the Department said these flexibilities allow a farmer to buy a SCEP eligible animal from a non-SCEP herd and assist them in meeting actions 1 or 2 of the scheme, helping a farmer remain in compliance and protecting their payments.
“Farmers should continue to consider the most appropriate breeding strategies for their herd and adjust them accordingly taking account of the most up to date scientific information,” the Department said.
(Source – Irish Independent – Indo Farming – Farming Independent Team – 12/03/2024)