Farmers continue to picket meat plants

Hundreds of farmers today continued to picket meat processing plants across the country in protest at what they claim are unfair cuts in the price paid to farmers for livestock.

Protests at six factories owned by the country’s largest beef processor, Anglo Irish Beef Processors (AIBP) began at around 8pm last night and are planned to continue until 4pm this afternoon.

The pickets have caused the halting of slaughter at meat factories in Nenagh and Cahir in Co Tipperary, Bandon in Co Cork, Rathkeale in Co Limerick, Clones in Co Monaghan and Waterford.

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), which has backed the action, accused the meat factories of cutting prices in recent weeks and said farmers could not afford to sell animals at current prices.

Derek Deane, the body’s national livestock chairman, today accused the factories of deliberately pushing beef prices down and said farmers were venting their frustration at their “mistreatment”.

“In the last 10 weeks, our prices are down €95 per head or nine pence a pound, and in particular in the last two weeks,” he said.

He added: “I think we are back to where we were two years ago where the factories deliberately push the price down even though the European and other main markets are rising at this time.”

However, AIBP and other processors rejected the IFA claims that prices are down on last year and say the demonstrations could cause long term damage to the industry.

The Irish Meat Association (IMA), which represents meat processors, accused the IFA of misleading farmers into believing that artificially high cattle prices can be sustained.

It said that the prices paid for cattle throughout Ireland this year had been consistently higher than last year, at an average of 2%.

John Smith, the body’s chief executive, said no cattle would be slaughtered at the plants today because of the “misleading and disruptive campaign being orchestrated by the IFA”.

Mr Smith also rejected any suggestion that prices were being manipulated.

“The price paid for cattle in Ireland is a reflection of the returns in the market places at any point in time,” he said.

“I think it is important to point out, and the Department of Agriculture is in a position to verify, that prices paid to farmers throughout this year are higher than last year.”