On Friday, Michael Dowling chaired direct talks between IFA and MII as part of the forum’s activity. Some progress was made on specifications, but the processors indicated that prices would not rise, so the protest went ahead. The specification issues may be the route to thawing out relations but with the beef forum taking place at time of print, that remains to be seen.
Included are:
A 12-month amnesty on weights, meaning that farmers would not be penalised for any heavy animals brought to factories.The Irish Farmers Journal understood that factories were pushing for a 440kg weight limit for remainder of 2015.A single base pricing system on animals up to 36 months.A commitment to look at a beef price index similar to the Irish Dairy Board’s Purchasing Price Index based on wholesale and retail prices.Greater transparency around trim and carcase inspections. This would involve training of Department of Agriculture Agricultural Officers (AOs) who would oversee slaughtering in factories.Greater transparency regarding factory remittance documents.Saturday saw a last-ditch atttempt by Minister Coveney to broker sufficient progress to stave off the protest. At a secret and unofficial meeting in the Red Cow Hotel, factory representatives and MII’s Ciaran Fitzgerald sat down with IFA’s Eddie Downey, Henry Burns and Kevin Kinsella, to no avail.
Even as the protest went ahead, Michael Dowling chaired further discussions with ICMSA and ICSA on Monday and ICOS on Tuesday. Afterwards, ICOS said they had told processors that neither McDonalds nor Tesco, the two main customers for Irish beef, stipulate any provisions above those of the Bord Bia Beef and Lamb Quality Assurance Scheme.
ICOS said that the Bord Bia Beef and Lamb Quality Assurance Scheme allows for free movements between any number of quality assured farms during the final 70-day period. This also facilitates the free trade of factory fit animals in livestock marts. However, the meat industry Quality Payment System has led to a situation where mart-traded animals do not qualify for the bonus. As a result, the trade of slaughter-fit animals in marts has been greatly reduced.
ICOS also said that the volume of factory-fit animals going to slaughter via a livestock mart has decreased significantly to 2.48%, with an ongoing decrease in the cull cow trade in marts. The 70 days residency stipulation is also affecting forward store sales in marts. This has the effect, farmers believe, of reducing competition for cattle suitable for slaughter.
How independent are the independent processors?
The IFA’s 48-hour protest only occured at plants of KEPAK, Dawn, ABP, and Slaney, leaving over a dozen plants free to kill on Monday and Tuesday. Surprisingly, they largely chose not to. Estimates reckon that less than 1,000 cattle were killed nationwide over those two days. It was understandable that little activity took place on Monday, as the IFA only decided on their course of action on Saturday, giving little time to organise a kill. However, Tuesday saw the same picture, with Jennings Ballinrobe and Dunleavy Meats in Ballina the only processors confirmed as killing.
Some factories were reported as saying they didn’t kill in solidarity with the plants that were subject to protests. The feeling among farmers is that it only serves to illustrate the grip the three main processors have over the entire processing sector.
Stories abounded around the tar barrels of close trading relationships between independents and at least one of the big three of ABP, Kepak and Dawn. It certainly points to a solidarity among MII members, and a hardening of attitiudes among processors. While understandable from their perspective, such an attitude was not increasing optimism for a resolution as the stakeholders entered the crunch beef forum meeting on Wednesday.
Slaney Foods, the only independent processor targeted by the 48-hour protest, will hold direct talks with representatives of their suppliers later this week.
On Friday, Michael Dowling chaired direct talks between IFA and MII as part of the forum’s activity. Some progress was made on specifications, but the processors indicated that prices would not rise, so the protest went ahead. The specification issues may be the route to thawing out relations but with the beef forum taking place at time of print, that remains to be seen.
Included are:
A 12-month amnesty on weights, meaning that farmers would not be penalised for any heavy animals brought to factories.The Irish Farmers Journal understood that factories were pushing for a 440kg weight limit for remainder of 2015.A single base pricing system on animals up to 36 months.A commitment to look at a beef price index similar to the Irish Dairy Board’s Purchasing Price Index based on wholesale and retail prices.Greater transparency around trim and carcase inspections. This would involve training of Department of Agriculture Agricultural Officers (AOs) who would oversee slaughtering in factories.Greater transparency regarding factory remittance documents.Saturday saw a last-ditch atttempt by Minister Coveney to broker sufficient progress to stave off the protest. At a secret and unofficial meeting in the Red Cow Hotel, factory representatives and MII’s Ciaran Fitzgerald sat down with IFA’s Eddie Downey, Henry Burns and Kevin Kinsella, to no avail.
Even as the protest went ahead, Michael Dowling chaired further discussions with ICMSA and ICSA on Monday and ICOS on Tuesday. Afterwards, ICOS said they had told processors that neither McDonalds nor Tesco, the two main customers for Irish beef, stipulate any provisions above those of the Bord Bia Beef and Lamb Quality Assurance Scheme.
ICOS said that the Bord Bia Beef and Lamb Quality Assurance Scheme allows for free movements between any number of quality assured farms during the final 70-day period. This also facilitates the free trade of factory fit animals in livestock marts. However, the meat industry Quality Payment System has led to a situation where mart-traded animals do not qualify for the bonus. As a result, the trade of slaughter-fit animals in marts has been greatly reduced.
ICOS also said that the volume of factory-fit animals going to slaughter via a livestock mart has decreased significantly to 2.48%, with an ongoing decrease in the cull cow trade in marts. The 70 days residency stipulation is also affecting forward store sales in marts. This has the effect, farmers believe, of reducing competition for cattle suitable for slaughter.
How independent are the independent processors?
The IFA’s 48-hour protest only occured at plants of KEPAK, Dawn, ABP, and Slaney, leaving over a dozen plants free to kill on Monday and Tuesday. Surprisingly, they largely chose not to. Estimates reckon that less than 1,000 cattle were killed nationwide over those two days. It was understandable that little activity took place on Monday, as the IFA only decided on their course of action on Saturday, giving little time to organise a kill. However, Tuesday saw the same picture, with Jennings Ballinrobe and Dunleavy Meats in Ballina the only processors confirmed as killing.
Some factories were reported as saying they didn’t kill in solidarity with the plants that were subject to protests. The feeling among farmers is that it only serves to illustrate the grip the three main processors have over the entire processing sector.
Stories abounded around the tar barrels of close trading relationships between independents and at least one of the big three of ABP, Kepak and Dawn. It certainly points to a solidarity among MII members, and a hardening of attitiudes among processors. While understandable from their perspective, such an attitude was not increasing optimism for a resolution as the stakeholders entered the crunch beef forum meeting on Wednesday.
Slaney Foods, the only independent processor targeted by the 48-hour protest, will hold direct talks with representatives of their suppliers later this week. 
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