Farmers hit with higher knackery charges
Co Galway TD Michael Kitt has said farmers have been hit by a €5 increase in the charge per animal.
Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, also in Co Galway, said the price of having sheep brought to rendering plants has increased 33%.
IFA animal health chairman Bert Stewart said farmers are now being charged exorbitant fees for fallen animal collection.
Fees reported round the country to IFA are as high as €30 for calves, compared to €10 previously. According to IFA, farmers are being charged up to €100 for collection of cattle aged up to 12 months, even though collectors are charged only €36 when they send the carcases onto renderers.
In Ireland, collectors or knackeries act as the intermediary between farms and the five rendering plants on the island of Ireland — whereas dead livestock go direct to renderers in most EU member states.
Mr Stewart linked increasing collection charges to a new 125km limit on the distance material can be carried to a renderer, in the Government’s TSE (Fallen Animal) Subsidy Scheme. This scheme pays €30 to the collector and €58 to the renderer for fallen cattle aged over 48 months (which must be BSE-tested), and sets a maximum collection charge to the farmer at €54.03, including VAT.
The scheme also pays animal collectors for a certain number of sheep and goats over 18 months that are tested for scrapie, but other livestock are outside the remit of the scheme.
Bert Stewart of IFA said the transport limit has ruled out using the most competitive rendering facility (situated in Northern Ireland) for the majority of knackeries. He said charges for rendering have increased from €50-80 to €100-140 per tonne. But at €120/t, this should equate to animal disposal costs of only €6 for a 50kg calf, €36 for a 300kg animal, €48 for 400kg; and €54 for 450kg. And salvage value of hides and meat for dogs also enable knack-eries to keep down charges.
Mr Stewart asked Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney to review the system of fallen animal disposal in operation, and investigate the possibility of direct delivery to rendering plants, or subsidised haulage of animals to the rendering facility.
