IFA plans major rally at meat factory over drop in cattle price

The Irish Farmers' Association has called a major rally of its members on Sunday afternoon in Athleague, Co Roscommon.

The Irish Farmers' Association has called a major rally of its members on Sunday afternoon in Athleague, Co Roscommon.

A protest over the drop in prices being paid by the Kepak factory to beef producers has been ongoing since Tuesday, when more than 600 farmers protested over the cut in price.

Since then, there has been an IFA presence at the plant, which has not slaughtered any cattle since Wednesday last, but the sheep-slaughtering lines at the plant have remained open.

The Irish Farmers' Association has claimed that farmers are refusing to supply cattle to the plant but factory sources indicated that it had closed down the lines on Wednesday in anticipation of the protest.

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Calling on farmers to support the rally, the IFA deputy president, Mr Ruaidhri Deasy, said yesterday there has been huge support from the farming sector for the ongoing protest over cattle price cuts.

"Kepak's attempt to drive down prices in Athleague was nothing short of raw opportunism and farmer suppliers are very angry, particularly considering the strong beef market returns," he said.

"There is no justification for the factory cattle price cuts which amount to 22 cents a kilo or €73 a head over the last six weeks, without any reduction in market returns," he said.

"Beef markets are extremely strong, particularly in the UK, which will take 250,000 tonnes of Irish beef this year. UK prices are the equivalent of €3.08 per kilo for R-grade steers and €2.97 per kilo for O-grade steers," the IFA deputy president said.

But last night a spokesman for Meat Industry Ireland said it was blatantly untrue to suggest that there had not been a decline in demand for beef internationally and that this had impacted on Irish prices.

"The international market sets the price the farmer is paid and there are many difficulties out there in the markets at this time," he said.

He said any escalation of the dispute or any disruption to normal processing activity at Ireland's beef factories would be harmful to the overall beef trade in Ireland.