All eyes are on today’s weanling sales around the country as the planned exporter boycott takes effect. Exporters maintain that they have no choice but to make farmers realise the importance of having healthy weanlings for sale.

Tuning in to some online coverage of marts over the weekend there has been a notable increase in the number of weanlings being sold with accompanying announcements of being weaned, dosed and vaccinated.

Mart managers reported a very busy weekend with all exporters out in force on Saturday purchasing weanlings as normal. A number of special weanling sales take place in marts across the country today. There is a nervousness in mart manager and farmer circles around what impact the boycott may have on the weanling trade.

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Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal Longford based live exporter Tom Hagan said, “This isn’t just about exporters. It’s also about farmers. There are more farmers buying weanlings than there are exporters buying weanlings so it’s equally important for them that weanlings are healthy at sale. Something has to change; we can’t keep doing what we are doing taking chances on weanlings as to whether they are healthy or not.”

Michael Fitzmaurice has also rowed in on the mart boycott calling for exporters to keep cool heads as tensions rise, “Solutions can and will be found through sitting down and talking. While there’s no magic bullet to fix everything overnight, I would strongly urge exporters to suspend any plans for a boycott and to continue dialogue” he said.

Fitzmaurice criticised the Department of Agriculture for what he described as “a lack of clarity and honesty” in its handling of recent communications with exporters, saying the Department was “well aware” of efforts to request a meeting earlier in the week.

“The Department came out with a statement last night suggesting no formal request had been made for a meeting. The reality is that exporters had made clear through the Minister and his representatives that such a meeting was needed. To claim otherwise is disingenuous,” he said.

“This situation can be resolved with a bit of common sense. What’s needed now is honesty from the Department and cooperation from all sides. The last thing anyone wants is to see farmers or exporters suffering because of miscommunication or mistrust,” he concluded.