Single Farm Payment Scheme INFORMATION LEAFLETS 1 - 8
INFORMATION LEAFLET 5
SCOTTISH BEEF CALF SCHEME
Introduction
The Minister for Environment and Rural Development announced on 29 July 2004 that, as part of the implementation of the Single Farm Payment, we would make use of the option available under Council Regulation (EC) 1782/2003 (article 69) to implement a beef national envelope from next year. The key objectives are to support both the supply of quality Scotch beef and the environment.
We will introduce a scheme to deliver these objectives. It will be called the "Scottish Beef Calf Scheme". It will open on 1 January 2005. We will fund the scheme by retaining approximately 10% of the decoupled beef payments. We will show this reduction in the up-to-date estimate of payments under the Single Farm Payment Scheme which we will issue in November.
We will issue detailed Notes for Guidance on the Scottish Beef Calf Scheme later this year together with a claim form. In the meantime the following is an outline of the basic rules.
Outline of scheme
Claimant
Scottish producer who breeds and keeps eligible calves on his Scottish land continuously from birth for 30 days;
Claimants under the scheme will need to maintain their land in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition and comply with the Statutory Management Requirements.
Eligible animals
Male and female calves which are at least 75% beef bred;
Born on Scottish land and kept there continuously from birth for at least 30 days;
No older than 30 days old on 1 January 2005 ie animals born on or after 2 December 2004;
Registered on the Cattle Tracing System and have a valid cattle passport.
Claims
Can be submitted from the 1 January 2005 electronically or on a paper claim form to a SEERAD Area Office;
No limit on the number of claims which can be submitted in a calendar year;
Movement cards from the passports of claimed calves should be enclosed with the paper claim form;
No late claim period and, therefore, no late claim penalties;
Claims received after 31 December will be deemed to be a claim in the following year.
Penalties
Scheme penalties will be applied if animal(s) fail eligibility checks;
Cross compliance penalties incurred under the Single Farm Payment Scheme will affect payments under the Scottish Beef Calf Scheme.
Payments
The payment rates for eligible animals will vary from year to year depending on the total number of eligible animals claimed in Scotland each year;
The first ten eligible calves claimed in any calendar year will be paid at a higher rate than any subsequent eligible calves claimed in the same calendar year;
We aim to make payments in February the year following submission of the claim, for example a claim made in December 2005 will be paid in February 2006;
SFPS (2004)