It will be “very regrettable” if farmers choose not to engage in trade or to disrupt trade, according to the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) which represents Irish livestock marts.

In a statement issued over the weekend the Beef Plan Movement said: “On Monday 29 July we do not trade, we do not go to our co-op, we do not sell our cattle at our local mart, we do not go to a factory with our cattle, we do not go to our local town to shop.”

ICOS said while everyone must be supportive of beef farmers, who had their backs to the wall on many fronts, any proposed disruption of co-operative business would be “an own goal”.

Mart support

“It is the case that many mart centres were used by members of the Beef Plan to establish their grouping,” the mart representative body said.

“The co-operative dairy processors and livestock marts are owned by farmers for farmers. The marts enable free trade between farmers on a transparent basis, with guaranteed payment, and they help to maximise the value of livestock sales and products.”

ICOS called on the e EU, Government and players in the meat industry to act on market supports, maximise prices for farmers and ensure the future viability of the Irish beef sector.

Truly extraordinary times

“Beef farmers are living in truly extraordinary times where the entire sector is being assailed from every direction with a consequent undermining of prices below an economically viable threshold for farming families,” ICOS said.

"Farmers are also victim to a range of contradictions and anomalies where, on the one hand we see the much needed BEAM scheme being launched; on the other we see calls for the national suckler herd to be sacrificed to mitigate climate change."

The threat of a Mercosur trade deal, the prospect of a no-deal Brexit and the “stranglehold that the meat factories have on the market” combined for a perfect storm, according to ICOS.

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