Public consultation begins on legal basis for beef producer groups

A public consultation seeking the views of stakeholders on legislating for the establishment of producer organisations in the beef sector has been launched by Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney.

This builds on a key recommendation in the Dowling Report presented at the June beef roundtable meeting which said that consideration should be given to introducing provisions for setting up a producer group regime.

Producer organisations are groups of farmers who come together under a formal structure to collaborate on a range of different issues.