Beef Task Force Must Address Injunctions Against Farmers
IFA President Joe Healy said that the first thing the Beef Taskforce will have to do at its first meeting today is to address outstanding injunctions against farmers.
IFA represented dozens of farmers in court and most have had injunctions lifted, but some remain. These will have to resolved immediately.
The deadlines set out in the beef sector agreement that have already been missed will also have to be resolved.
“The Beef sector agreement specifically states that the Beef Price Index would be introduced from September 16th. It’s now four weeks later and farmers are still waiting.”
“This is to be a key tool ensuring more transparency on meat and offal markets, giving accurate verified information on price trends to keep the factories honest on the base price. We need it immediately,” he said.
There was a lot of talk about building trust during the talks, but the factories have shown no interest in this. The way they have imposed weight limits in recent weeks has frustrated and angered farmers and undermined the in-spec bonus increases in the agreement.
“To try and rebuild trust with farmers, factories will have to fundamentally change their approach,” he said.
The IFA President Joe Healy and the Director of Livestock Kevin Kinsella will be the IFA representatives to the Beef Task Force.
