Agriculture

Beef farmers may be paid to shrink herd numbers

Sector more open to scheme than dairy producers due to profit pinch

One of the challenges to implementing the scheme to reduce herd numbers would be to ensure that reduced numbers on one farm weren’t simply made up for by an increase on another farm

Beef farmers could be paid to reduce the number of cattle on their farm under interim proposals from a special advisory group set up by the government.

The Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group was set up to advance the government’s Food Vision 2030 strategy and help meet Ireland’s sectoral climate targets. The agricultural sector has been given a 2030 target of reducing emissions by 25 per cent.

Achieving that will require a reduction in ...