If you are participating in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP), now is a good time to review your Scheme Year 4 requirements and make sure you are on track for 2026. Completing each action is essential to maximise your SCEP payment and avoid potential penalties. Several deadlines are approaching, so taking action now can help avoid last-minute issues.
You can monitor your SCEP breeding requirements through View Profiles> SCEP Eligibility.
Every herd needs to complete these 5 actions for SCEP, which can be monitored through your ICBF account.
1. Eligible bull/ AI straw
You can monitor your progress for 2025 – 2026 eligible sires, where you can view:
- Number of calves born
- Number of calves sired by an eligible bull
- Number of calves sired by an eligible bull required
You can view an individual bull in the Sire tab. This will go through each sire recorded, their eligibility and the number of calves recorded to the bull.
You can also use the Select/Deselect option to see if a bull in your herd would be eligible to use.
2. Eligible Females
You can monitor your progress for eligible females, which are over 16 months of age on Oct 31st 2027, where you can view:
- Number of females required
- Number of eligible females currently in herd
The female requirement is based on the current year’s annual reference number. The requirement will change if the annual reference number is updated at the beginning of next year.
You can view individual females in the female tab. This will show their eligibility and the star rating they were eligible on. A female may appear as less than 4 stars on her current Euro-Star profile but still be considered eligible for SCEP in your herd based on the star rating she held at the relevant evaluation date.
You can monitor your SCEP Genotyping, Weighing and Survey requirements through Services> SCEP. This will display a summary table.
3. Genotyping
You can monitor your progress at any time through the Genotyping Samples table on your ICBF homepage, where you can view:
- Number of samples required
- Number of samples received
- Outstanding samples still needed
4. Weighing
You can monitor your progress through the Weighing table on your ICBF homepage, where you can view:
- Number of Calf and Dam pairs required
- Number of Calf and Dam pairs recorded
- Outstanding Calf and Dam pairs still needed
5. Surveys
You can monitor your progress through the Survey table on your ICBF homepage, where you can view:
- How much data is required
- How much data for each section is recorded
- Outstanding information still needed
The blue lines show the Calf traits while the orange shows the Dam traits.
Take Action Now
Regularly reviewing your SCEP progress throughout the year can help prevent issues and reduce the risk of penalties. Log in to your ICBF account today to check your requirements and ensure you remain on track for Scheme Year 4.