The Beef Plan Movement (BPM) has circulated a message to its members calling on all farmers to “unite for a peaceful rally” in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, on Thursday, May 9, at 6:00pm.
The move comes as the Beef Plan Movement has called on processors and retailers to collectively increase the farmers’ share of retail price to prevent the “certain demise” of the suckler industry.
A statement from the movement explained: “With beef prices up to 40c/kg less than this week last year, the current prices for beef are not sustainable for farmers.”
The movement intends to use this peaceful rally to highlight the “ongoing exploitation of suckler and beef farmers”.
Speaking ahead of the protest, Eoin Donnelly, chairperson of the movement’s West region said: “With the Brexit deadline moved out to October, beef farmers are again left in limbo.
A support package was well documented to alleviate some of the impact to the beef sector but this seems to have also disappeared off the table.
“It is essential that any support is directed to the farmer rather than any other party.
“A payment directly to the farmer per animal for each live export should be considered and introduced also.”
The farmer group also thinks that an investigation, relating to what the drivers were for the beef price drop seen since the Brexit vote and who has gained or lost from this price drop, “would be beneficial”.
EU submission for beef farmer fund
The protest has been called following the news revealed by AgriLand yesterday, Wednesday, May 1, that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has submitted “a detailed case” to the European Commission for support and exceptional aid – specifically for beef farmers – in response to current market conditions.
It is understood that the submission was made two weeks ago.
The economic argument put forward by the department is believed to be “quite complicated” for a number of reasons.
QPS Assessment
Most farm organisations want a change to the current Quality Payment Scheme (QPS), according to the Beef Plan Movement, and the group has called for this once again in their submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
The group has called on the Government to “move immediately” and announce a QPS review in the short term. With local and European elections upcoming, the movement says this would be a sign of commitment to beef farmers.
Concluding, a statement remarked: “It goes without saying that our end goal is the payment of a cost of production plus a margin as the base price.”