The grumblings in the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) pig committee are reaching the point of no return. The Dealer was speaking to members of the committee over Christmas and there appears to be a growing level of discontent regarding the direction of the committee.

A number of the members said discussions are taking place with regard to removing themselves from the IFA entirely and establishing a new group. The group being talked about would be along the lines of a BPEX in Britain.

The pig committee would be similar to the liquid milk committee within the IFA. It is a highly independent group and would never be the first to pledge allegiance to the flag of the IFA.

However, the chances of a full break away seem remote, especially if the events of Monday next play out as expected. Next Monday would appear to be D-Day. The committee has been called to the Farm Centre in Dublin to meet and I’m reliably informed that the second to last item on the meeting’s agenda is the election of a new chair.

The incumbent Pat O’Flaherty has not stepped down despite a number of letters of no confidence in O’Flaherty being sent to IFA HQ before Christmas. There were other letters calling for O’Flaherty to step aside.

An item on the agenda expressly detailing the election of a new chair would signal that the game is afoot for O’Flaherty. The Co Kildare farmer is three years into his term but has not seen eye to eye with his committee. In September, committee vice-chair Howard McCollum and Tom Sherman stepped down from the committee, while young and progressive Co Louth farmer Colin Marry resigned altogether. The three men removed themselves, in one shape or another, from the committee over the leadership of the committee as well as O’Flaherty’s role in a pigmeat company.

If O’Flaherty does indeed step down, I’m told it is McCollum who is the favourite to take the chair. McCollum, from Co Cavan, helped negotiate the €1m package for pig farmers as part of the fund to support dairy and pig farmers. The €13.7m fund provided by the EU to Ireland was co-funded by the Irish Exchequer.

On that, it looks increasingly likely that the payment to pig farmers (due in January) will be linked to the productivity of each farmer.

The turbulence on the IFA pig committee plane is not welcomed. The sector is going through its worst stretch since the late 1990s and many expect there to be fewer farmers this time next year.