DEAR SIR: I am writing in relation to last week’s article about IFA’s seminar on producer organisations (POs). As you are aware, the Minister for Agriculture has been advocating the creation of producer organisations as a method of giving farmers more market power. IFA has been approved as a facilitator for such groups.

I made it clear in my opening remarks that if POs for finished cattle are to work, we should not “reinvent the wheel”. As a former chairman and manager of Athenry Mart, I suggested it would be better to work within the existing livestock mart structure. Kevin Kinsella simply raised this question during the panel discussion. He was not involved in the debate that followed. It was never suggested that marts should stop having auctions. The question posed was whether running a PO for finished cattle could be a complementary activity for marts. Farmers present certainly had strong and differing views on whether this was something the marts should consider.

IFA fully supports the vital service provided by marts and the importance of selling animals in an open, competitive auction with a guarantee of payment. It is clearly a matter for each mart board to decide if POs are something they want to consider or not.

The PO seminar was very informative. One of the conclusions was that current regulations for recognition as a PO are too onerous. The Minister will also have to provide much greater operational funding for POs if any formal groups are to get off the ground.

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