The Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) provided temporary exceptional adjustment aid to farmers in the beef sector in Ireland, subject to the conditions set out in EU Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1132. BEAM was funded by a combination of EU aid and Exchequer support. Since 2019, 33,445 farmers have received some €77.72M as part of the scheme, €50 million of which was funded by the EU.
It was provided to support Irish beef farmers who saw beef prices fall in light of the COVID-19 market disturbance.
One of the conditions under which the €50 million was granted by the EU was that there had to be an element of reduction or re-structuring built in to the scheme. Accordingly, in applying for BEAM, participants agreed to reduce the production of bovine livestock manure nitrogen on their holding by 5% for the period 1st July 2020 to 30th June 2021 as compared with the period 1st July 2018 to 30th June 2019. This reduction could only be recorded against individual herds that signed up for the programme.
Obligations under the measure were developed based on analysis of the herd profile and nitrates profile of the national herd. It was designed, in consultation with farmer representative organisations, to make the measure as easy to participate in as possible, whilst maintaining the requirement under the implementing regulation for temporary market adjustments.
My Department continues to develop and put in place supports for farmers to assist them in managing their commitments under the Scheme and further initiatives will be rolled out in the coming weeks in that regard. An online BEAM calculator is being developed which will not only inform participants as to how much of their target figure they have used but allow them to predict what effect prospective changes to their herd will have on their figures in the run up to the deadline.
Existing data provided shows participants the totals for organic bovine nitrogen produced on their holding for twelve month periods. These figures are updated monthly as soon as the data is available. Nitrates data is compiled from extracted information from my Department’s AIM system which is constantly being updated. Due to the nature of these updates and allowing for the intervals between events such as calving or movements taking place and being subsequently reported, there is a 5 week interval before the Nitrates data is extracted. This is to allow the data to settle and ensure accuracy as regulatory timeframes such as the 27 day registration rule for calves are provided for. The existing data is accurate to the end of November and the data up to 31st December will be available in the coming weeks. My officials will be writing to participating farmers again shortly to provide further information in assisting them in managing their commitments under BEAM.
Based on the most recent data, some 14,000 participating farmers are currently meeting the 5% reduction requirement.
