Calf exports are expected to continue this week at a reduced capacity following the suspension of a control post near Cherbourg Port in France late last week.
A number of mart managers have told Agriland, that the trade for these export-type calves eased noticeably over the weekend, and while calf exporters are still active at mart rings, they are not interested in as many calves as they had been in previous weeks.
It remains unclear when the lairage in France will return to normal operation or when calf exports will return to normal levels for this time of year.
The trade for heavier-type, quality calves has not been as severely impacted by the news and and in the meantime, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) has asked farmers “to work closely with their mart to ensure that they can get their calves sold”.
“This may necessitate holding onto calves for slightly longer than normal,” ICOS said.
Lairage suspension impact on exports
On Friday evening March 24, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) issued an e-mail to calf exporters outlining that services at the Pignet Control Post in Cherbourg, France, have been suspended by French authorities with immediate effect.
The DAFM e-mail stated: “It will not be possible to make a booking there until further notice.”
Bookings for Saturday, March 25 were cancelled and the e-mail also advised: “Further updates will issue as information is available.”
All Irish calves travelling to mainland Europe through Cherbourg Port pass through one of two control posts. The two control posts at Cherbourg Port are Pignet and Qualivia.
Once the calves leave the boat, they go directly to one of these two control posts which act as feeding stations for the calves where they are then fed and rested for approximately 12 hours.
Agriland understands the two control posts can hold over 5,000 calves and the Pignet Control Post can manage approximately 50% of these.
The suspension of services at this post will therefore reduce the number of calves that can travel from Ireland to Cherbourg, by approximately 50% in each sailing.
This is the third setback that the movement of Irish calves to mainland Europe has suffered this year. Stormy weather conditions and a strike in France also resulted in a number of livestock sailings being cancelled over the past three weeks.