Farm organisations across the country have said the dispute between the knackeries and the Department of Agriculture is unfair to farmers and must be settled immediately.

IFA animal health chair Pat Farrell told the Irish Farmers Journal that the advice given to farmers is to store fallen animals and, if the dispute gets more serious, the Department of Agriculture will allow burial licences.

“The farmers are caught in a bind. It’s up to the knackeries and the Department to resolve this, but they’re all trying to draw farmers into it as pawns when it’s nothing to do with them,” said Farrell.

Limbo

Meanwhile, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) is calling for an immediate resolution to the problems caused by the closures.

“Farmers with fallen stock are left in limbo dealing with the sight and stench of decomposing animals and desperately need a resolution to deal with the problem,” said its president Colm O’Donnell.

“If a resolution with the knackeries can’t be achieved today [Friday], then farmers need to be allowed bury the stock with guidelines and support on this provided by the local DVOs,” he added.

He said: “Failure to act on this will leave the moving of fallen animals difficult if not impossible and only adding to an already stressful situation.”

Welfare

Hugh Farrell of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) told the Irish Farmers Journal that the 3,000 fallen animals in the country currently waiting to be collected could have significant welfare implications for both animals and farmers.

“They will start to decay and who knows what type of disease they could be carrying?”

He asked: "What farmers have the storage facilities to hold these animals? This is not a runner at all, because very few farmers would be able to do that, there’s no such thing."

Read more

Knackery strike leaves 3,000 dead cattle uncollected

Knackeries on strike over rendering cost