The objective of the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme - Suckler (BEEP-S) is to further increase economic and environmental efficiency in the suckler herd through better quality data on herd performance, supporting decision making on farm and support of best practice in welfare management. It is a clear example of my commitment to the suckler sector.
Applications were made via my Department's online application system at www.agfood.ie. In addition to the mandatory weighing requirement, participants had the choice of two additional animal welfare measures.
The first of these involves the meal feeding of calves as part of the weaning process or carrying out a vaccination programme in conjunction with the participants veterinary practitioner. The second optional measure was to submit samples to a participating laboratory for faecal testing.
In respect of the faecal testing measure Annex 4 of the Terms and Conditions of the Scheme state:
"Cows should be placed in a clean pen. Leave them undisturbed for a couple of hours or until such time that a number of faecal deposits have been observed. If you have ten eligible cows, all must be sampled; if you have 5 eligible cows, you still must submit 10 samples as the lab cannot otherwise verify that you have met the conditions of scheme.
Using gloves, collect faecal samples from at least 10 different fresh faecal deposits and place them in 10 separate containers (You must collect at least a heaped teaspoonful of faeces)."
Samples are not taken from individual animals, tag numbers are not requested and the number of samples is not linked to the size of the herd. This standard requirement to take ten samples across the pen is to ensure an effective and accurate sample is taken. This facilitates the use of standard sampling kits across all the herds in the scheme.