Farm bodies unite against talks between EU and South America

FARM leaders, north and south, have pledged to work together to oppose trade talks that have re-opened between the European Union and the Mercosur group of South American countries.

The Irish Farmers Association has warned that a bilateral deal between the trading blocs will decimate the livelihoods of 80,000 Irish livestock farmers and inflict losses of €350 million on the beef sector.

IFA president John Bryan and newly elected president of the Ulster Farmers Union John Thompson discussed the threat at a meeting between the two bodies in Dublin yesterday.