DEAR SIR:

I’m a large suckler farmer and while it’s great to see all the calls for a suckler cow support, it’s not going to happen and if it does happen, it will just come out of our pockets somewhere else.

The real problem we face is the way the factories influence the price. Blockading factories, while not an ideal solution, is one of few open to us, but they need to be well organised and spontaneous to stop the factory filling up with cattle the night before.

The legal point needs to be addressed too to make sure the guards don’t rock up and start issuing summons. If factories were randomly blockaded on a regular basis and told that the price needed a modest increase and that the base price cannot slip below 4.00/kg perhaps not in the interest of fair play but in the interest of keeping business flowing, it could be achieved.