Beef Plan group issue invite to midlands area meeting

A new voluntary farmers movement is hosting a midlands meeting in Mullingar this week.

A Westmeath, Offaly, Longford meeting of the Beef Plan group take place on Wednesday December 5 in The Downs GAA Club at 8.30pm.

The newly-formed Beef Plan movement was born out of the frustration of beef farmers whose margins have been eroded by both processors and retailers.

The group, which currently has 7,500 members, has drafted up an 86-point plan in order to return competition to the sector and also return a margin back to the farmer.

Among the action plan points are that farmers receive, at a minimum, a cost of production price plus a margin; to regain control of the animal from birth to slaughter; regain respect within the beef industry; the establishment of producer groups and the removal of obstacles that hinder the free flow of factory-fit cattle through marts and live exports of cattle.

The full action plan can be seen on the group’s website, beefplan.ie.

David Whelehan of Gaybrook, a part-time beef farmer, Beef Plan contact for Westmeath and Offaly, said farmers are sick of being price takers and as it stands are dealing individually with well organised corporates who have both plans and structures.

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David Whelehan.

Under the Beef Plan group farmers have the opportunity to unite under the one umbrella to return a sustainable living and a margin for all farmers producing beef.

“Our aim is to get 40,000 farmers supporting our group and from there we hand in our list of demands to the processors,” said David.

This is an all inclusive plan for everyone producing beef, which includes suckler farmers, dairy farmers, calf to beef farmers, live exporters, all breed societies and all farm organisations.

There is a €10 membership fee which covers the cost of meeting rooms, stationery, posters, flyers and so on.

CAVAN MEETING 

The Beef Plan movement drew a large crowd to their meeting at Cavan Crystal Hotel on Wednesday week last, where the main message was for beef farmers to “take back control”.

Eamon Corley from Meath, addressing the hundreds at the meeting, said: “This is our industry, and we deserve to be paid for our work the same way as factories, as retailers, and all the other stakeholders.

“At the moment we own the land, we own the calves, we’re responsible for those calves being born, so it’s in our hands to control this and the only thing that is stopping us from controlling this is ourselves.”

Saying they will take their demands directly to the factories, Eamon added: “We won’t be outside the factory protesting, we’ll be at home working, and we’ll have decided we’re not sending our cattle to the factory that day, that factory can go half empty and we don’t care. 

“They’re going to have food contracts and that meat is going to have to appear on supermarket shelves – if we do that a few times at short notice, it is going to bring these people to the table to negotiate.”

Ballinagh suckler farmer Padraig Duffy, who was on the door and accepting the €10 registration fees, said they had at least 350 new recruits. 

“It’s going to be a tough road ahead,” he said. “But we have to stand up and do it for ourselves, no one else is going to do it. 

“Every man who walked out the door is after bringing four or five forms with him. Everyone’s doing their bit.”