This is a subscriber-only article
Sheep farmers are facing enormous difficulties as a result of Level 5 restrictions around marts, the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) has said.
ICSA sheep chair Sean McNamara has called on Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to urgently revisit the exclusion of farmers from around mart rings.
“Sheep farmers need to be able to make informed decisions around the stock they buy in. These decisions are based on physical inspections of lambs and judgement calls around fitness to kill.
“You cannot buy lambs without handling them. None of this is possible with online sales,” he said.
Trade
Trade was being stifled to an extent that farmers were unable to farm, according to McNamara.
Primary producers, as a vital part of the food chain, had to be allowed to conduct their businesses, he said.
Alongside difficulties evaluating lambs, some farmers had difficulties accessing the sales at all, he added.
“The lack of broadband reliability is wreaking havoc, but the age demographic of sheep farmers is also an issue. By and large sheep farmers are that bit older and not as robust when it comes to trading online and allowances must be made for this.
“We have to keep our businesses going and greater flexibility will have to be shown around allowing limited numbers into marts for sales,” McNamara concluded.
SHARING OPTIONS: