Marts under the umbrella of the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) have sought three new supports from the Government to help them remain in business during the coronavirus lockdown.
The chair of ICOS national marts committee Liam Williams has written to Minister for Business Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys seeking mart-specific measures.
“After initially being closed, the co-operative livestock marts were provided with a derogation by the Government for a limited range of services they could offer to farmers to facilitate their livestock transactions, but these stop-gap services are all loss-making to any livestock mart and are simply a service provision to the wider rural community rather than representing any long-term business strategy,” Williams said.
“As the COVID-19 restrictions have occurred within the usual peak trading and income generation period for livestock marts, it will take a significant period of time to replace the lost income and to mitigate the balance sheet damage for many of these co-operatives,” he explained.
Low-margin business
“Livestock marts are a very low-margin business and, as the majority of livestock marts are co-operatives, they simply provide a service for their shareholder farmer members, with little profit generated,” he said.
The ICOS marts chair said that major costs for all marts are labour, rates and inordinately high insurance.
He called on the minister to introduce three measures to re-energise the sector and to ensure that as many marts as possible can continue in business after the COVID-19 pandemic has passed.
They are:
Local authority rates amnesty for 12 months to be implemented immediately.National Government insurance underwriting of a proportion of mart business.Grant aid provision for investment in IT and online trading developments in marts.Williams added that marts form an integral part of rural life and living.
“They are centrally located in most county towns of Ireland and any investment made here is dispersed throughout rural communities who have been deeply and adversely affected by the pandemic,” he said.
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How COVID-19 is affecting the market for Irish beef
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Marts under the umbrella of the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) have sought three new supports from the Government to help them remain in business during the coronavirus lockdown.
The chair of ICOS national marts committee Liam Williams has written to Minister for Business Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys seeking mart-specific measures.
“After initially being closed, the co-operative livestock marts were provided with a derogation by the Government for a limited range of services they could offer to farmers to facilitate their livestock transactions, but these stop-gap services are all loss-making to any livestock mart and are simply a service provision to the wider rural community rather than representing any long-term business strategy,” Williams said.
“As the COVID-19 restrictions have occurred within the usual peak trading and income generation period for livestock marts, it will take a significant period of time to replace the lost income and to mitigate the balance sheet damage for many of these co-operatives,” he explained.
Low-margin business
“Livestock marts are a very low-margin business and, as the majority of livestock marts are co-operatives, they simply provide a service for their shareholder farmer members, with little profit generated,” he said.
The ICOS marts chair said that major costs for all marts are labour, rates and inordinately high insurance.
He called on the minister to introduce three measures to re-energise the sector and to ensure that as many marts as possible can continue in business after the COVID-19 pandemic has passed.
They are:
Local authority rates amnesty for 12 months to be implemented immediately.National Government insurance underwriting of a proportion of mart business.Grant aid provision for investment in IT and online trading developments in marts.Williams added that marts form an integral part of rural life and living.
“They are centrally located in most county towns of Ireland and any investment made here is dispersed throughout rural communities who have been deeply and adversely affected by the pandemic,” he said.
Read more
In pictures: widespread satisfaction with online sale in Manorhamilton
How COVID-19 is affecting the market for Irish beef
Watch: Carnaross Mart holds 100% online cattle sale
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