First sales under major three-way co-op merger
The new society will have a turnover of €35 million with cattle sales of 47,000 head and sheep sales exceeding 81,000 head per year.
The board has announced the election of John O'Brien, Nenagh, as the first chairman. The position is to rotate between the three areas. Nenagh Co-op Mart manager Matt Malone has been appointed chief executive. Matt is brother of John Malone, who recently retired as Department of Agriculture secretary general.
Following an independent assessment, the shareholding in the new society is giving Nenagh 80.16%, Birr 15.49% and Roscrea 4.35%. The new co-op will have a two tiered structure, including three advisory committees representing the three mart areas and a board of twelve elected members.
The sharp increase in beef prices at the factories over the past week was confirmed in the farmer pay sheet returns, which showed improvements of up to 16 cents/kg (5p/lb), with the larger increase for the poorer grades.
The factories paid an average of 276c/kg (8.7p/lb) for R4L bullocks, with a top price of 284c/kg (101.6p/lb) factory average at Donegal Meats. The national average paid for O4L bullocks was 267c/kg (95p/lb), an improvement of 16c/kg on the previous week.
Heifer prices edged ahead of the bullocks, with a national average of 277c/kg (99p/lb) paid for R4L grade and a top price of 288c/kg (103p/lb) paid at Kepak, Clonee, which probably included premium priced contract supplies in the mix. The national average for O4L heifers was 267c/kg (95p/lb).
