Progress made at talks on beef price dispute

Talks aimed at resolving the dispute between farmers and meat processors were making progress on a number of issues last night, though significant areas of contention remained unresolved.

Some headway was made at the talks, which began at 4.30pm, on farmers’ demands that factories pay a basic Quality Assured bonus on all cattle from a Bord Bia-approved quality assured farm. There was also some progress on the issue of the 30-month age limit and on weight restrictions.

After four hours of negotiation, a document was presented to the sides by the Department of Agriculture. It is understood that, after the document was considered by the sides, a number of concerns were raised that were the subject of further negotiation and by 10pm last night those talks were still ongoing.