Payments for the first year of the Suckler Cow (SC) Scheme are now underway, the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has confirmed.

The payments which commenced today (Thursday, June 25) are a key element of Northern Ireland's Sustainable Agriculture Programme.

The department said that 98.6% of eligible farm businesses will receive a total of £13.3 million in payments for 133,091 eligible calving events.

Payments will continue to be made to remaining farm businesses once validations are completed.

Suckler Cow Scheme

The Suckler Cow Scheme, part of the Beef Sustainability Package, encourages improvements in environmental performance and productivity, increased profitability and reduced emissions.

The scheme supports farmers to improve breeding management practices to increase the percentage of eligible calving events that achieve a reduced age at first calving and a reduced calving interval over a four-year phased implementation period.

Each qualifying calving event receives £100, with a Northern Ireland cap of 222,000 calving events per scheme year.

In Year 1, 85% of eligible farm businesses have opted in to the scheme.

DAERA said that around 72% of all calving events have achieved the Year 1 targets.

DAERA Minister Andrew Muir said he was "very encouraged by the strong uptake in Year 1 of the scheme.

"While the principal purpose of the scheme is to deliver environmental benefits, in the current economic climate, these payments will also provide important support to our farm businesses," he said.

DAERA

Year 2 of the Suckler Cow Scheme commenced on April 1, 2026.

The maximum age at first calving is now 32 months and the maximum calving interval is 405 days.

Farm businesses that have yet to opt into the scheme, can still do so via the DAERA website.

The opt-in for Year 2 remains open and should be completed before March 31, 2027

A farm business only needs to opt in once to receive payment for the scheme from 2025.

If farm businesses opt in and do not have any eligible calving events in that scheme year, DAERA said no penalties will apply.

Eligibility is limited to farm businesses receiving the Farm Sustainability Transition Payment in 2025 and the Farm Sustainability Payment from 2026 onwards.