Asba Meats, based in Shannon, Co. Clare, has confirmed that delayed payments for all farmers will be completed prior to September this year.
Concerns have been raised by the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) about the payment delays, which have been happening for some months now.
Co. Clare IFA chair, Stephen Walsh said the payment delays are “concerning and appear to be persistent”.
He said that there are some cases where farmers are waiting up to six months for payments.
Senior executive with Asba Meats, Tareq Khan said that there are “two main reasons” for these current delays.
He said that the company was hacked towards the end of March this year, causing payment disruption for two to three weeks.
Khan said that this caused an issued with cash flow, where Asba Meats was unable to pay farmers, however the company has since recovered and these farmers are now on a “priority list”.
He told Agriland that there are under 12 farmers still awaiting payment as a result of the delay.
Khan added that there are other times where irregular suppliers will contact the company with an “emergency situation” where the farmer had to kill a cow.
He said that sometimes in these scenarios, farmers do not provide payment details.
Asba Meats has developed a new policy since May to avoid these situations, whereby any farmer that wants to supply to the company must register and receive authorisation first.
Khan said that it is “frustrating” to hear “exaggerated” reports about delayed payments, and said that Asba Meats has never had any similar situations to this in the past.
IFA chair Walsh said that the association had pointed out the “cashflow pressure” created by the failure to pay farmers in the past.
“The company has said there would be some delay, but it’s going on for far too long,” Walsh said.
Walsh warned farmers to “think very carefully before engaging with Asba Meats”, and said that farmers should “insist” on payment on the day.