Following Friday's Beef Stakeholder Forum meeting in Portlaoise, the Pedigree Cattle Breeders Council of Ireland met to discuss the outcome of the meeting.

Although a commitment was given by Teagasc and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) to review the economic model that makes up the indices, the Pedigree Cattle Breeders Council has decided it's not good enough for the breeders they represent.

In a statement to the Irish Farmers Journal, a spokesperson for the Pedigree Cattle Breeders Council of Ireland said: "Unfortunately, after 12 months of participation in the stakeholders forum, we the Irish Pedigree Cattle Breeders Council have lost complete faith in the ICBF board and the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) committee, and have taken a vote of no confidence in both.

"We are deeply concerned regarding the unbalanced make up of the ICBF board and TAG committee, and the chosen direction they are leading us.

"We the Irish Pedigree Cattle Breeders Council once again request a fully independent audit of the ICBF Euro-star indices.

"Scientists say that the stars hold the secrets to successful breeding, while breeders on the ground eagerly await the cosmic connections."