Rural Payments and Services

Update for 2019 scheme year

This scheme note covers the following areas:

• claiming for the 2019 Scheme year
• distribution arrangements for tissue tagging in 2019
• first selection of tissue tags – 2019
• disposal reasons – update to drop down on ScotEID account
• BES scheme year 1 carbon audits feedback
• carbon audit update – year 3
• farm specific reports

To claim for this scheme you must complete a Single Application Form (open from 15 March to 15 May). If you have applied online, the box should have already been pre-ticked for you, please check to make sure it is ticked.

If you apply by submitting a paper SAF, please remember to tick the BES box to confirm you are continuing with the scheme.

If the BES box of your SAF is not ticked, your 2019 BES scheme payment will not be able to be paid. You must also claim at least 80% of your defined reference hectares. The minimum area that must be claimed is set in table 3 of your BES contract.

Distribution arrangements for tissue tagging in 2019

The BES team will again aim to make only one selection of animals for tissue tagging per business per year. However, businesses that have an even split of calving in both spring and autumn may receive more than one selection to ensure that the mandatory 20% of calves are selected.

An early selection in June for applicants who plan to sell their animals in September will be offered. If you wish to be included in the early round, please ensure that the calving details for your spring-born calves are recorded on your BES account by 9 June. Please note that having all your calving data recorded by 9 June is voluntary.

Tags for this early selection will begin to issue in early July and all will be issued by the beginning of September.

Applicants who do not wish to enter their data by this date remain subject to the scheme deadline of 15 July 2019 for recording calving data for calves born 1 January 2019 to 1 June 2019. A selection of these spring calves will be made in late July with tags starting to arrive in August and all tags arriving by 1 November 2019.

Please note, animals that have been selected from each round will appear on your tag tab in your ScotEID account. If you have not received tags by the beginning of September for the early selection or if you have been selected to receive tags following the scheme deadline but have not received tags by the beginning of November then please contact the BES mailbox.

Individual businesses who may have to tag more animals this year have already been made aware of this request.

The scheme guidance is a handy reminder of the scheme rules.

First selection of tissue tags – 2019

The BES team is almost ready to arrange the production of tissue tags for the first time this year. This is a reminder that your ScotEID account for BES will show a list of the animals that have been selected for tagging.

You have until 31 December 2019 to return your tags, but it is advisable to carry out the tagging as early as possible, and return them all to the lab.

Disposal reasons – update to drop down on ScotEID account

Following feedback from participants, new disposal reasons have been added:

• sold with calf at foot
• sold for breeding
• Johnnes

Please ensure that disposal reasons are provided for any disposals/deaths that occurred in autumn 2018 as soon as possible.

BES scheme year 1 carbon audits – feedback

These have been completed by all farmers participating in the scheme. The feedback on the exercise has been positive, with 91% of farmers rating the outcomes from the carbon audit as excellent or good. This provides an excellent platform for the next carbon audit updates due in 2019 and 2021.

During the first carbon audit, information was collected on what the focus of advisory events should be. This showed that grassland management and nutrition were popular topics and were therefore covered at events run between October – December 2018. The ‘live’ events were followed by a webinar in January which will continue to be available for reference.

There will be a further round of meetings held during October to December this year incorporating material on cow fertility and health – look out for further information in late summer.

Carbon audit update – year 3

To assist with the carbon audit update you will be contacted by Ricardo shortly, who will supply you with detailed guidance allowing you to update your carbon audit yourself. They will explain fully in their communication the types of support available to you in order to carry out the update.

It has been agreed with Ricardo that all scheme participants should have their carbon audit complete by 31 December 2019.

Farm specific reports

The BES team has reached an important time in the scheme as there are now three years of complete BES data to work with. Until now, reports could only be based on the data calculated across the whole BES population, but sufficient data is now recorded to produce individualised farm reports based on the key animal performance traits.

These individualised reports will allow farmers to benchmark their own performance against the performance of other beef herds across Scotland. For example, farmers will be able to see how their calving performance compares to others, with the reports also providing links to key information sources if they wish to implement actions for improvement. This will help farmers to begin to integrate the information gathered through BES into their ongoing management and improvement plans.

Further individualised reports will issue throughout the remainder of the scheme as more records are collected and the genotyping data is integrated into the reports.

For further information, please contact the BES mailbox.