Following the agreement reached between farm organisations and Meat Industry Ireland (MII) earlier this month, farmers can now appeal carcase grades. However, farmers should be aware that only grades awarded in manual grading factories can be appealed.
Following the agreement reached between farm organisations and Meat Industry Ireland (MII) earlier this month, farmers can now appeal carcase grades.
However, farmers should be aware that only grades awarded in manual grading factories can be appealed.
“Following recent discussions between stakeholders and the beef industry on foot of farmer protests, my Department introduced an appeal system for carcase classification in manual grading factories,” Minister Michael Creed told deputy Anne Rabitte TD in response to a parliamentary question on the subject.
The Minister informed her that the system would be subject to a review in six months to assess how it was operating.
The grade awarded by automatic grading machines, which is used in the majority of meat plants, cannot be appealed.
Steps to appeal carcase grade
Have carcase reclassified by a second licensed factory grader. Following the second classification, if the farmer is still unhappy, they ask factory management to contact the Department of Agriculture to arrange for a reclassification by a Department officer. 
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