Tag Archives: Clare Beef Plan

Clare Beef Plan questions the transparency of department consultation CONCERN about the transparency surrounding an online Town Hall-style meeting in relation to proposed changes to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been expressed by a local farming representative. Clare Beef Plan vice-chairman, Pat Nagle, isn’t happy with the way the two and a half-hour meeting was conducted by the Department of Agriculture as part of its efforts to involve farmers in a public consultation process. Mr Nagle, who participated in the virtual meeting, recalled Department officials outlined a section of the CAP proposals concerning suckler operators. “You could ask a question, but you didn’t know whether it would be answered or not. Beef Plan submitted a number of questions and I believe none of them were answered. It would have been better if the questions posed were displayed visually in some format, which would be far more transparent.” The Liscannor farmer claimed the meeting was akin to a “tick the …

CLARE Beef Plan have expressed grave misgivings about the shortcomings of a proposed new classification system for suckler beef. Bord Bia and the Department of Agriculture have proposed a new Irish grassfed beef Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for submission to the EU for approval. Clare Beef Plan is concerned Bord Bia intends to market grassfed beef regardless of whether the PGI submission is accepted by the EU or not. For PGI status, it appears that all producers must be Bord Bia QA-approved, which is another cost for suckler farmers from which no benefit flows. The PGI is restricted to heifers and steers less than 36 months and beef cows up to 120 months. Since the over-riding consideration for the PGI is meat quality and this quality is to be determined by inspection, Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe argues these age limits make no sense. He said the implication is that the meat of a 10 year-old cow is of the …

CLARE farmers are being urged to post back new controversial TB herd history letters to the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine as a form of protest. There has been a furious reaction by farming organisations and farmers to the department’s decision to send out these letters to herdowners. The call for a postal protest was made this week by Clare Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe, who asked why the DAFM are doing this unnecessary measure, as farmers already know whether they had TB or were TB free over the last ten years. “If a farmer has TB, it is not something they will forget as you can’t move your cattle. “The Department aren’t offering a reward if a farmer didn’t have TB in one year or ten years. 96.5% of TB has been eradicated from the national herd. What is the definition of eradication? “In my view, it has been eradicated if 96.5% of the herd is TB free. …

A NEW Rural Ideas Forum could help reduce rural depopulation in Clare if it is properly implemented, according to Clare Beef Plan secretary, Bláth Cooney. However, Ms Cooney has warned this proposal, which is contained in the new Programme for Government conflicts with existing policies of urbanisation and large-scale afforestation and also the new EU Protected Areas plan, which proposes to designate 10% of the country as very high level special protected areas. She pledged the Beef Plan Movement will monitor the implementation of the consultation process and insist that the commitment to support farmers and local food businesses is honoured. “Some of this support is framed as a drive to improve land management to reduce emissions. It is important to recognise that in general farmers know their own land and improvements must be proposed in consultation with farmers rather than being imposed upon them. “This system has worked well in the locally-led schemes. The longest-established of these is the …

CLARE IFA officers are planning to seek a meeting with Kepak representatives amid growing concern about whether their meat factory in Drumquin will re-open following its closure on February 14. IFA chairman, Tom Lane told the Clare Champion officers were keen to meet Kepak executives to question them about their future plans for the plant. Mr Lane said Kepak had some contracts with local beef finishers, which it was honouring by slaughtering their animals outside the county. “I would like to see Kepak re-open in Drumquin,” he said. Clare Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe has expressed concern about the long delay in re-opening Kepak’s Drumquin plant. Mr Woulfe is worried that Kepak’s Clare plant may not re-open and has been informed that some equipment may have been transferred off site. He said management should have sat down with local farming representatives to work out a future for the plant. Last February, Kepak staff were told two days before its closure …

  THE first live export of 600 beef cattle by a new beef producers’ group has been welcomed by Clare Beef Plan. Half of the shipment, which went from Belview Port in the South-East to Algeria recently contained cattle that were sourced under the Emerald Isle Producers’ Group. They included R and U grade 16 to 24-month old bulls and heavy steers as well as some R grade Hereford and Angus cattle. This sale involved a deal with a shipping company that has a contract in Algeria. Pat Nagle of Clare Beef Plan said this was a very welcome development as anything that reduces the number of cattle going the system was positive. He said it is hoped there will be several more live shipments through the Emerald Isle Producers’ Group (EIPG) among others. He said this shipment suited heavy carcasses, which were not suitable for factories. Commenting on the sale of overweight cattle in the factories by one farmer, …