IFA President Eddie Downey addresses the IFA beef meeting in Navan on Tuesday evening.
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More than 10 months of farmer anger and frustration erupted at Tuesday’s IFA beef meeting in Navan.
The reaction to a 25% year- on-year cut in beef price and a continuous tightening of specifications threatened the meeting on a number of occasions.
IFA president Eddie Downey said factories have been “ruling farmers” for the last 12 months and “farmers cannot last much longer”. He said changes to specifications on movements, weight and breed were never part of the Quality Payment System (QPS) and criticised factories for their current tactics in trying to force more cattle on to the market by threatening cuts on age and pulling prices, despite the trade improving in Britain. He called on Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney to “assert his authority and do his job”.
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Downey said: “The Minister must realise he is the Minister for farmers and not just the industry.”
Farmer concerns on specifications were intensified by Padraig Browne of meat firm Dunbia. His declaration that some retailers are already implementing a 12- to 14-month age limit on bulls will do little to add confidence to finding a resolution on specifications. The IFA is understood to be planning a protest today (Thursday), targeting the processor and retailer link.
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More than 10 months of farmer anger and frustration erupted at Tuesday’s IFA beef meeting in Navan.
The reaction to a 25% year- on-year cut in beef price and a continuous tightening of specifications threatened the meeting on a number of occasions.
IFA president Eddie Downey said factories have been “ruling farmers” for the last 12 months and “farmers cannot last much longer”. He said changes to specifications on movements, weight and breed were never part of the Quality Payment System (QPS) and criticised factories for their current tactics in trying to force more cattle on to the market by threatening cuts on age and pulling prices, despite the trade improving in Britain. He called on Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney to “assert his authority and do his job”.
Downey said: “The Minister must realise he is the Minister for farmers and not just the industry.”
Farmer concerns on specifications were intensified by Padraig Browne of meat firm Dunbia. His declaration that some retailers are already implementing a 12- to 14-month age limit on bulls will do little to add confidence to finding a resolution on specifications. The IFA is understood to be planning a protest today (Thursday), targeting the processor and retailer link.
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