IFA confident of success if bullock premium row ends up in the courts

A FINAL outcome is still some distance away in the battle between farmers and the Government over the cut in bullock premium payments to the larger claimants.

Because applications for Special Beef Premia exceeded the national quota in 2002, payments are being scaled back to bring the overall payout within the national allocation. But the Department of Agriculture is being challenged on the decision to exclude smaller farmers, who made less than 50 applications, from the reductions.

This exclusion increases the impact on producers who applied for more than 50 premia during the year, and it is the bigger farmers who have now hit back at the Department.