Minister Heydon confirms commencement of €4.09 million in payments under the National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme 2025
- Published on: 26 November 2025
- Last updated on: 8 December 2025
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, has today confirmed that payments under the National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme 2025 have commenced. In total, over €4.09 million has begun issuing to some 8,153 participating farmers, supporting 204,739 calves.
Minister Heydon commented:
“I am delighted to confirm that payments have now commenced under the National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme, building on the range of support schemes available for beef farmers. The National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme helps to support decision making on farms through better quality data on herd performance and to increase the economic and environmental efficiency of the beef from the dairy herd, and to facilitate the further integration of the dairy and beef sectors by providing support for farmers who are rearing progeny from the dairy herd.”
The Minister continued:
“The core action for the National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme was the weighing of eligible calves by 1 November 2025 for which there was a payment of €20 per eligible calf. Like the National Beef Welfare Scheme and the National Sheep Welfare Scheme, the National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme was also oversubscribed. This is testament to the practical measures within these schemes, where farmers see value in the actions including the weighing of calves. Within the National Dairy Beef Weighing Scheme, over 305,000 calves were weighed by 01 November across 8,381 herds with 26% of these herds weighing more than 50 calves, illustrating the real value farmers see in having this weighing data for calves.”
As a result of the over-subscription of the scheme in the order of €1.4 million, the maximum number payable under the scheme has been reduced to 31 calves.
The Minister concluded by stating:
“I am acutely aware of the importance of payments under these schemes for the beef sector and the processing of such payments at the earliest possible opportunity remains a key priority for my department. I am also happy to confirm that I have secured an allocation of a further €4 million for this scheme in 2026.”
Notes
|
County |
Total applications |
Total net amount |
|
CARLOW |
147 |
€74,851 |
|
CAVAN |
278 |
€129,397 |
|
CLARE |
335 |
€150,875 |
|
CORK |
1,461 |
€757,631 |
|
DONEGAL |
200 |
€94,499 |
|
DUBLIN |
14 |
€6,620 |
|
GALWAY |
592 |
€262,175 |
|
KERRY |
377 |
€179,193 |
|
KILDARE |
85 |
€46,032 |
|
KILKENNY |
449 |
€253,900 |
|
LAOIS |
272 |
€139,124 |
|
LEITRIM |
31 |
€12,608 |
|
LIMERICK |
598 |
€313,408 |
|
LONGFORD |
165 |
€73,840 |
|
LOUTH |
82 |
€39,479 |
|
MAYO |
207 |
€89,480 |
|
MEATH |
270 |
€136,917 |
|
MONAGHAN |
249 |
€111,910 |
|
OFFALY |
351 |
€183,497 |
|
ROSCOMMON |
190 |
€86,918 |
|
SLIGO |
85 |
€39,010 |
|
TIPPERARY |
865 |
€476,089 |
|
WATERFORD |
255 |
€139,031 |
|
WESTMEATH |
230 |
€109,614 |
|
WEXFORD |
279 |
€143,586 |
|
WICKLOW |
86 |
€42,498 |
|
|
|
|
|
Total Paid (numbers) |
8,153 |
|
|
Total Paid (money) |
|
€4,092,183 |