“€12 per breeding ewe in an insult in this day and age – particularly now as we are watching our costs rise on an almost daily basis.”
That’s according to chair of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association, Sean McNamara.
Minister Charlie McConalogue recently announced the new Sheep Improvement Scheme which included a new payment of €12 per breeding ewe running from 1 February 2023 to 31 December 2023.
In his response, Mr McNamara detailed that during the CAP negotiations, the ICSA demonstrated how a €35 per head ewe payment was possible through a combination of a coupled payment and better financing of sheep scheme.
He has called on the minister to convene a meeting of the Sheep Vision group as soon as possible to review what’s happening in the market and what the outlook is.
