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A review of health and safety regulations could potentially see major changes coming down the line for livestock marts across NI following a fatal accident at Clogher Mart last Saturday.
A number of mart managers voiced their concerns to the Irish Farmers Journal that tighter safety regulations will be imposed by health and safety authorities and insurance companies.
The general consensus is that there is likely to be some form of safety inspection of mart facilities over the coming weeks.
According to sources, that could lead to some form of restriction being imposed, which will prevent farmers from accessing the cattle lairage to inspect animals before and during sales.
Similar restrictions are already in place in the Republic of Ireland, where marts have had to enforce restricted viewing areas for farmers.
Membership agreements for farmers participating in the business development group (BDG) scheme have been issued to participants for the 2018/19 year.
With payments for attending meetings removed at the start of the third year of the scheme, a participant can now send a representative of the farm business to a BDG event.
The agreement also states that at least 50% of training events should be attended each year.
“Where members attend less than half of the training events offered, members may be withdrawn from the scheme,” the agreement reads.
Payments of £600 are still available for farmers who host BDG events.
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