The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is in “ongoing contact” with stakeholder members of the Beef Market Taskforce in lieu of meetings during the current coronavirus crisis, a spokesperson for the authority has said.

In a short statement to AgriLand, a department representative said:

“While it is not possible to convene a Beef Taskforce meeting currently due to necessary Covid-19 restrictions, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is in ongoing contact with farmer representative organisations and industry stakeholders with regard to current developments in the market resulting from the pandemic.

A written update on the work of the taskforce, including the market transparency studies, will be provided to taskforce members as soon as is practical and a meeting will be scheduled as soon as conditions allow.

Details on progress on all actions to date are available on the progress report on the department’s website, the spokesperson concluded.

The last meeting of the Beef Market Taskforce took place on Thursday, January 9, which saw farm organisations, processor representatives and retailers in attendance. This was the second meeting of the roundtable.

A third meeting had been penned in for March but was subsequently postponed due to Covid-19 concerns.