It will be left to individual mart operators in NI to decide if they want to display information at the point of sale on the number of residencies of individual cattle.

The decision comes after a meeting of the NI Livestock Auctioneers Association on Monday evening of this week where they decided not to take a collective position. Earlier on Monday, they had met senior figures from the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) who have been working to try to find a solution to the issue of penalties being applied by meat plants on cattle with more than four farm residencies.

The deal brokered by the LMC, and put to the marts and the meat plants, would involve the marts providing the information on the number of residencies.