There's no question that the outcome of the row between the IFA and the beef barons was game, set and match to Tom Parlon and his members. After a lot of macho posturing, the big beef processing groups capitulated one by one to the IFA demands, but the question that still has to be answered is what damage has been done to Irish beef markets, particularly on the continent where continuity of supply as much as price is one of the main factors in getting contracts from the major European multiples.

It may take some time for the dust to settle from the beef dispute, but a clearly revitalised and confident IFA is now setting its sights on the pig processors. This is mainly a different group of companies from the beef barons, but down in Mitchelstown, Dairygold - a minor league player in the beef dispute but big in pigs - must be dreading another row with the IFA.

As a co-op owned by farmers, Dairygold is always in a difficult position when it comes to getting embroiled in rows with its farmer-suppliers, whether they supply milk, beef or pork. But an awful lot more of Dairygold's shareholders are pig suppliers so the prospect of a row over pig prices is not something that Denis Lucey would relish.

That said, as a farmer-owned co-op Dairygold has traditionally paid over the average for its raw material and will probably be in a better position to cut a deal with the IFA if a dispute over price erupts.

The other main domestic pig processors are Glanbia and Kerry - Glanbia is in no position to get involved in any nasty row, while Kerry's massive earnings from its international ingredients business puts it in a position where it could consider subsidising pig prices, just as Kerry's milk suppliers (most of whom are shareholders) have been kept sweet for years.