Level 5 restrictions resulted in a 30% fall in animal throughput at marts in the last week, Irish Farmers Journal analysis shows.

Farmer frustration at being locked out of mart rings is growing, but the price for animals sold has not taken a hit. The switch to online-only trading comes at a crucial time for farmers, who saw the cancellation or delay of 16 sales last Saturday due to an IT glitch.

Rural broadband is a major source of concern for marts and farmers

While the system failure lasted just two hours, ICOS said it left 30,000 farmers unable to buy or sell stock for that period, with four marts cancelled.

Despite Department of Agriculture assurances that the IT glitch had been repaired, farm organisations and rural TDs have since locked horns with Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.

Rural broadband is a major source of concern for marts and farmers, but the Minister has stood firm over Level 5 restrictions.

Fall in trade

ICOS said that 31,000 cattle were traded in the October bank holiday period, compared to 36,000 in the same weekend in 2019, a drop of 14%. However, year-to-date trade is back just 9.6% compared to the same period last year. Ray Doyle, ICOS livestock executive, said it hopes to see a blend of online and physical bidding return as soon as possible.

The IFA and Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice have made formal submissions to the Government seeking a blended approach.

Independent TD Denis Naughten said: “If we can socially distance in the Dáil chamber, we can do it in a mart.”