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There was a plenty of frustration rippling through a crowd of over 100 farmers at an IFA beef crisis meeting in Nenagh , with farmers asking tough questions of the panel on beef prices and processor control.
It was also clear that many farmers felt failed by the recent budget announcement of the new Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot scheme (BEEP).
“The €40/cow is a joke and I think it should be sent back to Minister Creed. Tell him that we don’t want it,” Francis Burke, a farmer from Thurles said, a point that was met with a round of applause from the crowd.
“I am deeply disappointed and considering getting out of suckler farming in the next 12 months because we didn’t get the €200/cow that we needed,” he said.
Producer organisations
Valerie Woods from the Department of Agriculture gave a presentation on the potential of producer organisations (POs), and the potential bargaining power they could give farmers.
However, it was pointed out that many complications could arise from POs.
“To make an impact on the market place you’d need to have a big chunk of the cattle that need to be sold,” director general of the IFA, Damien McDonald said.
“If you were to go down this route, farmers would have to make a very big commitment.”
“It is great in theory, how it will work in practice depends on the farmers.”
Lots of debate on the viability of a planned annual cull of "poor value calves" and whether it could put a floor under beef prices at the @IFAmedia beef crisis meeting ??
— Farmers Journal (@farmersjournal) October 15, 2018
One of the main organisers of the newly-formed beef planning group, Eamonn Corley, also requested that the language used to explain the PO legislation be made more farmer friendly, a suggestion that Woods said she would take back to the Department.
No silver bullet
The focus of the meeting was on addressing the current perceived crisis facing the beef industry, with low prices prompting several beef protests over the past month.
Market control was repeatedly pointed out as an issue, with up to 70% of the Irish beef kill currently controlled by three processors, who supply five main supermarkets from a supply base of 80,000 beef farmers.
While POs were suggested as one option for increasing farmer bargaining power, Ray Doyle livestock director of ICOS said that it would be “small, incremental changes” that would pave the way for changes for Irish farmers.
He championed the role of the marts but said that it was clear that the direction of marts would also have to evolve.
Frustration
However, continued farmer frustration came to the fore, with a feeling that more rapid change was needed and could be achieved if factories submitted to improved and more transparent grading systems. Having the Goverment place higher importance on the success of the sector was also seen as an important step.
Valerie Woods said she accepted that the BEEP scheme, which will provide a €40/cow payment, was not what farmers had wanted, but that it was what the Government had been able to provide given budget constraints.
"The €40/cow is a joke and I think it should be sent back to Minister @creedcnw and tell him we don't want it" - round of applause from frustrated farmers who wanted €200/cow at the @IFAmedia beef crisis meeting Nenagh.
— Farmers Journal (@farmersjournal) October 15, 2018
There were a number of heated opinions voiced, with much anger over the Beef Data and Genomics Scheme, processor control and the role of farm organisations.
Damien McDonald highlighted the power of displaying a united farmer stance by concluding: “While we can disagree, let’s thrash it out in the room and emerge united.”
SHARING OPTIONS: