More than 70 licensed, rural merchants have exited the animal health market and the industry is warning that hundreds more businesses could be forced out because of current government policy.

According to Merchants Alliance Ireland - which represents the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS), Independent Licensed Merchants Association and Acorn Independent Merchants - between 200 to 250 could also be set to exit over the next 12 months.

The Merchants Alliance claims this is directly because of legislation which was introduced by the government two years ago which led to all antiparasitics becoming a prescription-only medicine (POM).

Under the Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Act 2023, this means that farmers can only get certain veterinary medicines if they get a prescription from a vet.

The consequences of this change in policy for agricultural merchants and co-ops has been significant and resulted in a dramatic shift in Ireland's animal health market.

According to the Merchants Alliance Ireland 81% of the animal health market had moved to veterinary practice by July this year.

It expects that if current trends continue, that figure will exceed 90% within the next 12 months.

The three largest co-op retailers in Ireland have also reported year-to-date sales declines of 63%, 71% and 58% respectively compared with 2025, following the introduction of the new legislation.

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food has been examing the implementation and impact of the legislation that was introduced in 2023. 

Ollie Ryan, from the Merchants Alliance Ireland, highlighted to the committee yesterday (Wednesday, November 4) that the current set up favours a veterinary practice over a local agricultural merchant.

He said: "The farmer's experience tells the whole story. A farmer walks into his local vet practice, asks the veterinary staff members on site for his or her preferred anthelminthic products and has returned to the farmyard within minutes.

"The same farmer walks into his local co-op or merchant and is asked for a prescription. If he or she has none, our responsible person works through more than twenty questions, sends it to a vet, and waits 24 hours at best, several days at worst. Most farmers will leave and return to the veterinary practice".

Rural merchants

According to Ryan government ministers and officials had provided assurances that the introduction of the Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Act 2023 would "not be anti-competitive towards the merchant channel".

However he told the agri-committee that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) was "failing" on this intention.

"DAFM’s first National Veterinary Prescription System (NVPS) newsletter reports over one million prescriptions in the system's first twenty months.

"A year ago, of 93,000 prescriptions, just 89 were dispensed outside a vet practice. Antiparasitic are only 10% of all line items on the system," Ryan added.

The Merchants Alliance has claimed that DAFM "is now unfairly using public funds to give a competitive advantage to theveterinary channels to retail animal remedies".