Meat Industry Ireland (MII) has committed to provide a cattle weighing service before the kill line at factories and also to providing written agreements on the terms of sale between farmers and factories.

At marathon 12-hour talks in Backweston between farmers, the factories and Department last Monday, it was agreed that MII would revert by close of business on Wednesday evening on whether the factories could provide pre-kill weighing at factories and written contracts on prices agreed to farmers.

Weighing

MII has committed to provide a lairage weighing service to farmers, where it is requested by farmers, at a nominal charge.

When these scales are to be introduced will be up to each factory and based on their operational and logistial considerations.

This will allow farmers to see the kill-out percentage on cattle.

Written confirmation of contracts

Where an agreement is finalised between the factory and a farmer on the terms of sale (when the sale will take place, any price agreed, etc), factories can confirm the agreement in writing, where the farmer requests it.

The exact mechanism for these contracts will be decided by each individual factory.

This will see factories give written quotes on request to farmers and if a date is agreed to kill cattle, both the factory and farmer have to honour that commitment, the Irish Farmers Journal understands.

These two commitments come after almost two weeks of protests, started by the Beef Plan Movement, at 22 factories around the country that led to the crunch talks on Monday last.

Next meeting

On Monday 19 August, talks will resume between all the parties involved.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the 30-month requirement for the in-spec bonus, the 70-day residency rule for the quality payment system (QPS) and the four-movement rule will be on the agenda.

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