If farmers intend to remain in the beef sector, they “must mobilise themselves and travel to Ballinasloe tonight,” Thursday, May 9, a prominent Beef Plan Movement representative has stated.
Speaking to AgriLand ahead of the protest – kicking off at 6:00pm – in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, Eoin Donnelly, western regional chairman of ‘Beef Plan’ warned: “Farmer exploitation must be stopped and we’re asking all stakeholders to help us.
The level of power that’s being leveraged over farmers by a combination of retailers and processors is shocking.
He reiterated that farmers are continually “eating into” any funding that comes available “just to keep their farms alive”.
He claims that “money is filtering back up through the channel to the processors and retailers – while the farmers can’t do a thing about it.
We need legislative change to protect farmers from the vulnerable position that they’re in.
He explained that the peaceful protest will start at Saint Michael’s Square and will then proceed up to the Shearwater Hotel.
Loud and clear
“We need as many farmers as we can possibly get,” Donnelly stressed.
All beef farmers must show a sense of unity; not just from a Beef Plan perspective – but from a suckler/beef industry perspective.
“We need to get the message across loud and clear. If something isn’t done that changes the status quo, then beef farming in Ireland is finished. We will be left rearing only dairy calves in Ireland.
Concluding, Donnelly outlined his view that solely focusing on dairy-beef operations “will not work because according to feedback, processors need suckler beef as a door opener to access desired markets.”