A new beef producer organisation (PO), Emerald Isle Beef Producers, is going through the final stages of approval, Eamon Corley, co-chair of the Beef Plan Movement and a director of the new PO, has said.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal this Friday, Corley confirmed that the PO has been registered as a company limited by guarantee (CLG).

Directors of the CLG are listed as Hilary O'Brien and Gill Hanlon, both from Meath.

Turnaround

“All paperwork is with the Department. I’m told that there’ll be a quick turnaround on the application.

“We’re expecting to be up and running soon. The group is open to anyone in the country… we’ve an overall theme for the betterment of farmers,” he said.

Corley said there are five other directors of the group, Emerald Isle Beef Producers: Kevin O’Brien from Galway, Jane Holton from Meath, Mary Ryan from Tipperary, Declan Donohue from Galway and Richard Hobson from Wicklow.

We’ve a huge amount of work done

“We’ve a huge amount of work done, surveys, we’ve collected names, we’ve asked farmers the type of cattle they have, the breeds and the time of year they’re likely to come fit,” he said.

Entry fee

The PO will have an entry fee of €100/head – a once-off fee, Corley said, adding that there will also be a contribution per head of cattle.

“We will have to employ people, to run it right will have to employ two people. Without spending money, we’re not going to do it right,” he said.

The draft rules of the PO, seen by the Irish Farmers Journal, state: “On being admitted to the PO for the purposes of selling finished cattle, each member will pay an entry fee of €100 to be paid immediately.

“In addition a contribution of €3 per head will be stopped by the factory. On being admitted to the PO for the purposes of selling weanlings, the entry fee for the first year will be waived, there will be a contribution of €2 per head that will be stopped by the body that conducts the sale or the purchasers.”

Committee

The rules also state that the management of the PO will be by committee elected by the members each year. This will be made up of a chair, vice chair, secretary, treasurer, public relations officer, chief procurement officer and representatives from each of the regions in the PO.

Quality assurance

Subject to the market requirements of the PO, all members’ farms must be quality-assured and all feedstuffs must be quality-assured, the draft rules say.

“If a member fails a QA inspection, he or she cannot sell cattle through the group during the period when not quality-assured, unless the PO has a market for non-quality-assured cattle,” it says.

The group is accepting members and has over 30 already.

Read more

Beef Plan members establish first producer group

5,000 bulls to be exported this week