Don't Forget Your Sheep Census Return

The Sheep census return must submitted to the Dept. of Agriculture by January 29th. If you are registered with Agfood you can make the return on line or alternatively your farm advisor can do this for you. The census is a record of the number of sheep and goats on the farm on the 13th of December. If it is not submitted it may create difficulties later in the year in establishing your eligibility for the ANC scheme. You should also not e that making the census return is a GLAS requirement for sheep farmers with commonage.

Sheep Census

The Dept. of Agriculture have announced the date for 2014 Sheep Census. Full details are given below. 

SHEEP & GOAT CENSUS 2014 Over 43,000 flock owners, registered as keepers of sheep and goats on the Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine’s database, will this week receive the Sheep and Goat Census 2014. Completing and returning the census is a legal obligation. 

As well as fulfilling this requirement, the yearly sheep and goat census is the record retained by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as to the number of sheep on each holding. This information forms the basis of quantifying sheep numbers in the country on a particular date. More importantly, for flock owners, it is also central in declaring that required stocking rates have been maintained and facilitates the drawing down of payments under schemes such as the Single Payment Scheme, Disadvantaged Area Scheme, REPS, AEOS and the Grassland Sheep Scheme. 

The information is also used during farm/flock inspections. The inspector will have details of the census returns submitted for the holding in the last four or five years and will use this information as the basis for identifying if the animal records have been adequately maintained. This year the Department has selected Sunday 14 December 2014 as the census date. 

The onus remains with the flock owner to make sure that the completed census forms reach the Department on time. It should be noted that the only acceptable proof of postage is Registered or Express post receipts and all forms must be returned to Government Buildings, Portlaoise, Co Laois. A postal certificate is no longer acceptable as proof of postage. Flock owners are also advised of the option to submit forms online.

2013 Sheep Census

Remember to get them all counted and census in by Feb 14th.

2013 Sheep Census: Minister Coveney Announces Two-Week Extension to Closing Date for Submission: New Closing Date Friday, 14 February.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, TD, today announced a two-week extension to the closing date for submission of the 2013 Sheep Census. 'I have decided to extend the closing date in order to give farmers sufficient time to complete and return the Census' the Minister said, noting that there is a legal requirement on all flock owners to complete and return the Census form. 'It's essential that farmers take time to fully and accurately complete the Census, as failure to do so may prevent the ordering of sheep tags or lead to cross compliance penalties and, indeed, could affect certain Scheme applications' the Minister said, adding 'Therefore, while the closing date for receipt of completed forms had initially been fixed for Friday, 31 January, I have decided to extend this by a further two weeks, to Friday, 14 February. I must emphasise, however, that there is no scope to extend this date further'.

The Dept. of Agriculture have still not defined what they mean by "a minimum level of activity" for a farmer to be eligible for the new Basic Payment Scheme on marginal land. However it is very likely that this will include a minimum stocking rate and on mountain commonage evidence that mountain breeds of sheep or cattle suitable for the hill such as Aberdeen Angus, Kerry's or Galloways are on the holding.

In any case failure to get the census in on time will create no end of problems with demonstrating eligibility for the 2014 dis-advantaged area scheme, so if you have not done so already get the census return in as soon as you can.

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