Six farmer representative groups have confirmed to AgriLand they will be attending the second round of beef talks in Backweston, Co. Kildare, on Monday, September 9.
The further round of talks – which the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, confirmed will take place – follow on from a wave of protests that began early last week, which were sparked by the first set of beef talks.
Following the first round of talks, many farmers and farmer organisations believed that while progress had been made on some fronts during those talks, a number of underlying issues had not been addressed.
- Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA);
- Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA);
- Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA);
- Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA);
- Macra na Feirme;
- The Beef Plan Movement.
It is being widely speculated that the 30-month rule, 70 (60) day residency rule and the four-movements rule will be major focus points of the talks.
It is not yet known if an allowance will be made for price to be discussed at the beef talks; however, many farmers that are currently on the picket lines nationwide have said they were hugely frustrated that price was not discussed during the previous talks.
The talks will consist of each group meeting Minister Creed individually at first and then a round-table discussion will take place later in the evening.
Stay tuned to AgriLand for further details on this story.