Ireland: ICMSA urges remaining farmers to complete SCEP training

The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) is urging around 480 farmers who are yet to complete the online training course for the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) to do so. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) stated at a farmers’ charter meeting yesterday (Thursday, December 12) that it is awaiting 479 farmers to finish training. SCEP provides support to beef farmers to improve the environmental sustainability of the national beef herd. Payments for scheme year-two of SCEP worth over €47.8 million have began issuing to the 14,943 suckler farmers participating. Chair of the ICMSA livestock committee, Michael O’Connell has welcomed the payments but said that those awaiting training are “holding up their payments”. SCEP These farmers (amounting to 3% of the total who applied) would have received reminder letters from the department this week with a deadline date for completion of Thursday, December 19. “ICMSA strongly urges those in ...