Livestock farmers’ rally against cut

THE IFA announced yesterday it is to hold a livestock farmers’ rally at the Heritage Hotel in Portlaoise on June 7.

Livestock committee chairman John Bryan said the rally was against an unjustified and inequitable €80 million beef premium cut being imposed on livestock farmers.

“Livestock farmers cannot afford a financial cut of this magnitude,” he said, recalling that former EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler made it clear at a meeting in Goffs in 2003 that no farmer or country should lose out as a result of opting for full decoupling. Mary Coughlan had made a detailed submission to the EC, highlighting the inequity involved.