The Irish Beef and Lamb Association (IBLA) have announced details of an information night for sheep farmers to highlight the benefits of forward contracts for producing lamb.
The information night will be held on Friday, November 24 at the McWilliam Park Hotel in Claremorris, Co. Mayo at 8:30p.m.
IBLA west region chairperson Eoin Donnelly and vice-chairperson Kieran Delaney will chair the information night and will speak to farmers on the subject of forward contracts, among other issues affecting farmers.
The information night is taking place at a key time for Irish sheep farmers, who have begun the breeding season on their farms and will be planning ahead for the lambing season and subsequent rearing of lambs.
The IBLA hopes to show farmers that the introduction of a forward contract will “spread some of the financial risk off the primary producers (farmers) and bring more certainty to Irish farmers for their quality products”.
During the information night, the IBLA representatives will discuss with farmers how they “might be able to achieve such supply contracts”.
“We have seen major retailers already doing contracts with meat processors, and these contracts are up to two years. There’s no reason why meat processors can’t give farmers forward contracts as we see forward contracts in other industries,” the IBLA stated.
Discussion topics
Among the other topics to be discussed on the night in Claremorris by the IBLA is the importation of sheep from the UK into Ireland.
The IBLA said that there was good engagement from farmers at this years National Ploughing Championships, where they spoke to many about these issues.
The IBLA has stated that they are “of the opinion that UK lamb is being used to undermine and reduce the price paid to Irish farmers for their lamb”.
The association has said live exports “are minimal” to the UK during the last five years.