There are currently no plans to establish a legal definition of a feedlot herd, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has clarified.
Currently, under the Bovine TB eradication programme, beef finishing herds, if they meet certain criteria, may be termed ‘controlled finishing units’ (CFUs) and, subject to a tailored supervisory protocol, be allowed to continue to send animals direct to slaughter whilst restricted under the programme.
The minister explained this in response to a parliamentary question asked by Sinn Féin deputy Matt Carthy.
The deputy has called for the Department of Agriculture to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the impact of factory-owned feedlots on the beef sector including their effect on prices and the environment.
National Food Ombudsman
“The department’s statutory responsibility in the context of meat plants is to approve slaughter plants in accordance with the EU [Food and Feed Hygiene] Regulations 2020 and after that, to ensure that its approved plants operate in compliance with the EU’s food hygiene legislation and animal health and welfare standards,” the minister said.
“The department’s remit in regard to finishing units is to ensure that they operate in compliance with the EU’s animal health and welfare standards.
“The department cannot, in carrying out this process, take into account issues such as the concentration of ownership of inputs to processing as it is outside the scope of this remit.
“I have acknowledged the importance of transparency in the market for primary producers. Central to my commitment to transparency is the establishment of a new office, the Office of the National Food Ombudsman.
“The role of the new office will be central in achieving transparency and ultimately ensuring that farmers are getting the best price possible in the market and that their income is maximised.”
‘Incredible’ that department does not have feedlot definition
However, deputy Carthy said that the “only way we can ensure a food ombudsman or any other body will be able to tackle unfair practices within the sector is if we have all the information in the first instance”.
“It is incredible that the department does not have a definition of ‘factory feedlot’ or of a feedlot in general,” he said.
“We are basing all our information on the controlled finishing units, which serve as a proxy.”