Ireland: IBLA to ask member views on sheep processor protest

The Irish Beef and Lamb Association (IBLA) will ask its members if they would support a protest – or number of protests – at sheep processing facilities. In a statement over the weekend, the IBLA criticised the recent protest by the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) in Roscommon town. “The IBLA is of the strong opinion that the only place that a protest associated with the current serious income situation for sheep farmers should be held at is a meat processing facility,” it said. According to the IBLA, the IFA’s request for a €30/ewe payment to sheep farmers is “at best a temporary band aid to a serious problem in the sector”. Advertisement “We have seen time and time again that any direct payment to a farmer is almost immediately taken by the processor in the form of a price cut, leaving the farmer no better off in the long run,” the group’s statement added. It continued: “The fundamental problem in farming, not least the sheep sector, is the disproportionate level of financial ...