The Beef Plan Movement has released a statement saying that it “will not be amalgamating with, or coming in under, any umbrella of the IFA [Irish Farmers’ Association]”.

This announcement follows an official motion saying as much by the group’s north-east regional chairperson Michael Rafferty, which was formally endorsed by its national committee.

Beef Plan spokesperson Dermot O’Brien said: “The organisation has a very strong mandate from its membership to stay on course and fight for a fair share of market prices. Beef Plan has achieved a lot with its national officers all working for farmers as volunteers for the betterment of its members.

Beef Plan does not see any amalgamation with the IFA to be in its interest.

“Beef Plan stands tall among our farm organisations, and will continue to seek the support of other farming organisations to push on with the Beef Market Taskforce work,” O’Brien added.

He continued: “The national committee of the Beef Plan Movement is adamant that the organisation, which is the second-largest farm organisation in Ireland, will continue to fight for farmers so that they can gain respect from the industry stakeholders and be rewarded for what they produce.”

Beef Sector Agreement

The Beef Plan Movement is also calling on farmers to keep in mind certain items of the September 15 Irish Beef Sector Agreement that govern farmers’ relationships with the processors.

O’Brien said that there appears to be “no rush” from authorities to make farmers aware of these tenets of the agreement, with the result that farmers don’t know what they are entitled to under the agreement.

He highlighted that, under the agreement, farmers have the right to request written confirmation of the terms of sale when agreement is finalised with the processor, among other entitlements.