A 200-strong crowd of farmers turned up at a Beef Plan meeting at the Auburn Lodge Hotel in Ennis on 8 January, where there was a palpable sense of frustration from the floor.

Farmers across the room nodded in agreement, as Joseph Woulfe, chair of the Beef Plan in Clare told the crowd that the price of cattle in marts had stagnated over the last 20 years.

This plan is about getting the power back

The group aims to set up producer groups in each county to give farmers more power over the price they get for cattle and have garnered over 15,000 members on WhatsApp over the past six months.

Hugh Doyle and Eamon Corley, the two chief organisers of the group, vented their frustration for the current beef industry.

Corley insisted that farmers revealed too much to beef factories the moment they registered calves because the factories would then know how many animals would be coming onto the system and could chart whether there would be a future deficit or surplus of cattle and pay prices accordingly.

“Every one of us in this room are slaves to somebody else,” Corley said

“This plan is about getting the power back.”

“We’re going to be forced off our land and plant trees and feed cattle for dairy farmers,” Corley told farmers.

“If the farmers in Clare aren’t in a purchasing group we’re going to be providing that for the farmers.”

He said they were looking at getting six independent factories to process beef from their future producer groups.

Corley also criticised the margin farmers received which he said had dropped from 40% down to around 19% nowadays.

Drivel

Hugh Doyle heavily criticised Bord Bia and said they had not done enough to promote Irish beef.

“Bord Bia at the moment get €55m between the government and the farmers,” Doyle said.

He said only 40% of Irish beef was reaching the prime markets with 25% going to the manufacturing market for mince and burgers.

“You’re being fed this drivel to create panic,” Doyle said.

“What’s happening at the moment is that P1 culled cow is being sold in the same melting pot as the U3 steer – and if that keeps happening guys the game is over.”

“At 3.75/kg [for beef] you have to realise you’re spending your kids inheritance.”

“The only way we can go forward is going together as one.”

Doyle said producer groups would be willing to create a GM or antibiotic free brand to appeal to niche markets if they needed to.

Clare based American businessman Cary Languird sparked a lot of interest among farmers when he told the crowd that he was trying to fill a contract for a company with US/China links.

“My proposal is that we want to take that beef out to China,” Languird said, adding that as long as his contracts were continuously filled he’d be willing to pay up to €5.20/kg.

Other organisations

One farmer in the audience asked if the group had sought support from other organisations, specifically the IFA.

Eamon Corley told the crowd that when the plan had been developed they spent six weeks consulting with the IFA.

“There’s some very good people in the IFA and there’s some of them in the room here that still talk to me,” Corley said with a wry smile.

He said that they were happy to accept the support of other farm organisations but not willing to give others a lead role in the Beefplan movement.

“I’m still an IFA member and I’m not prepared to relinquish that,” Hugh Doyle said.

“We are not pushing the IFA away – but if they’re prepared to work with us in the background that’s fine.”

However, the crowd applauded as he added that he felt the IFA had forgotten about beef farmers.

“The beef guy has been forgotten,” Doyle said.

“If I’m shot down for saying that then so be it.”

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