We've an addiction in this country that stretches back a few thousand years - cattle.

In ancient Ireland they were seen as a sign of wealth. Cattle raiding formed a part of Irish folklore and they've left a lasting legacy in modern Ireland in the form of roads - “bothar” - way of the cow.

Aside from the roads, you could almost say the more things change, the more they stay the same. We rear cattle and then let someone else source a market, rather than find a market and rear towards it. They're not our problem anymore but we want money regardless as to whether there's an outlet or not.

Winter finishers threatening to go out of business is an annual headline but how many leave? If anything it forces factories to step up efforts to source and finish cattle as an insurance policy.

It's time for the finger pointing and boy crying wolf tactics to stop.

In more recent Septembers, I attended Macra leadership training and one of the key messages at the start every year was this: "If you're not part of the solution, maybe you're part of the problem".

The second beef forum in six years was formed in 2014 of all stakeholders in the industry. Demands were placed on the Minister, Teagasc, processors and retailers for leadership. Why can't farmers show leadership themselves? Farmers are part of the forum too.

There are elected volunteer leaders in farm organisations as well as paid leaders. There are farmers who have developed systems that work well for a variety of different systems who can lead through action and show what can be done at farm level.

It's easy to not put your head over the parapet and not lead because you can blame everyone else if things don't work out. Compromise and listening are key factors in any solution and that will mean winners and losers at all levels.

Choices will have to be made at farm level to decide what route each individual takes as no one size fits all. Commercial pig farmers number 650 back in 2002, the current numbers are closer to 300, yet pig numbers have remained the same. How long before a similar rejig happens in beef or is there a desire to do it?

It may seem radical but would a merger of Bord bia and Teagasc into one farmer run advisory and marketing organisation be a game changer? Meat and livestock Australia and beef and lamb New Zealand are farmer-run.

It's different there as they deal with commercial businesses and farmers have to make money to survive in a subsidy less environment. But what I see as being key to their success is farmers finding solutions for farmers.