The three candidates for the IFA presidency, John Coughlan, Tim Cullinan and Angus Woods, were tackled on the rise of the Beef Plan Movement at a joint hustings for Louth and Monaghan.

Beef Plan’s northeast regional chair Michael Rafferty was at the meeting and posed a number of questions. Rafferty believed the IFA had failed to deliver on its promise to reform four years ago, and he said the candidates had played a part in that.

He asked what their views were on the 30-month age limit and the four-movement rule.

Angus Woods said certain markets, one of which was China, had certain specification which required beef from animals under 30 months old. He said if a decision was made to get rid of specifications, then Irish farmers would be ruled out of those markets.

On the four-movement rule, he said it had been pushed by the animal welfare lobby in the UK on to retailers there.

Cullinan said he does not support the specifications. He said they are costing farmers and the Minister for Agriculture who opened the Chinese market did not fight hard enough to avoid them.

Beef Plan

He also delved into the origins of the Beef Plan Movement, saying it came from a group of beef finishers in Meath wanting a sub-group from the livestock committee. This was not delivering at the time, but is something he has proposed to reform in the IFA.

John Coughlan said he agreed with having market conditions as farmers needed something that would deliver a better price. However, he said processors should not be allowed to manipulate those conditions.

Mapping

As Louth farmers were present, issues with the Department’s new mapping system were raised. Riona Meehan said she knew of 70 farmers who had not received their payments as a result.

All candidates agreed that the advanced 70% BPS payment should be issued and any issues sorted in the remaining 30% balance.

Deputy race

The deputy presidency debate focused on farmer unity and how to attract members to IFA. Kildare IFA chair Brian Rushe said the IFA’s visibility is crucial.

Rushe floated the idea of employing interns, following the model of other organisations, to get IFA representatives on the ground in places such as marts to meet farmers.

He said digital methods such as WhatApp were fine but visibility on the ground would be key.

Cavan candidate Thomas Cooney disagreed with the idea of taking on interns. He said the IFA needed to be run more efficiently and people needed to pull together more. Cooney believed delivering money into farmers’ pockets would see them return to the IFA.

Both candidates preached the benefits of having volunteers, not paid staff, representing farmers.

Bord Bia

As has been the theme across many of the hustings, Bord Bia took a kicking.

Rushe said he had lost all faith in the Quality Assurance system. He said all animals leaving a QA farm should receive a bonus payment be it a cull cow, prime heifer or overage bullock.

Cooney agreed, saying markets such as China and the US delivered by Bord Bia had not delivered for farmers. He said audits only drove up farmers’ costs.

Read more

IFA hustings: finance on the minds of Donegal farmers

Tipperary IFA hustings: farmer bashing and beef fiasco raised