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The closure of Mountrath Mart last Wednesday was sudden and shocking.
The fact that it is leaving no debt and no unpaid creditors is reassuring in one way, but strangely unsettling in another.
If a co-op owned mart, with no significant debt, ceased trading because the board of farmers believe it will not be able to pay its way into the future, what lies ahead for other marts?
The fact that Mountrath Mart is in a county as synonymous with cattle – both suckler and dairying – as Laois only adds to the bewilderment.
As Henry Burns put it: “The overheads must be severe,” as the mart had “no major debt” but did not have the “other income streams” that may be propping up other marts.
This is the third mart closure to be confirmed in less than a year, following on from Castleblayney and Carrick-on-Suir, the latter admittedly following a fire that destroyed the premises.
There’s no doubt that rising insurance premiums are a factor, as is the falling number of animal movements through mart rings.
Underneath that is the continuing exposure of some marts to the potential for bad debt.
Extending credit lines to large-scale buyers of younger stock will always bring an element of risk. Should any mart be exposing its shareholders and the farmers who trade through their rings to such risk?
For suckler and cattle farmers, it’s just one more blow, another test of the resilience and optimism of a low-income sector horribly exposed to Brexit.
It’s just as well the Taoiseach is fully behind the sector, and would never say anything to undermine it.
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