News

Concerned farmers to meet in Bantry

February 18th, 2019 2:18 PM

By Southern Star Team

Gerard Dineen with the Drystock Farmer of the Year trophy he won at the 2017 West Cork Farming Awards.

Share this article

A voluntary not-for-profit farmers' organisation, called the Beef Plan Movement, is holding a public meeting at the Westlodge Hotel in Bantry on Thursday next, February 21st.

A VOLUNTARY not-for-profit farmers’ organisation, called the Beef Plan Movement, is holding a public meeting at the Westlodge Hotel in Bantry on Thursday next, February 21st, at 8pm to encourage drystock farmers, in particular, to join them in their campaign to secure fairer prices for their cattle.

According to its Cork secretary Helen O’Sullivan, ‘the Beef Plan Movement is an important initiative developed by a working group of dedicated Irish beef farmers to help out their fellow farmers, who are experiencing a very tough time trying to make a profit margin on their farms at the minute.

‘The Beef Plan is an 86-point document, which sets out important solutions to help redress certain shortfalls, obstacles and difficulties, which present on most Irish beef farms today.’  

She added: ‘The Beef Plan is for all farmers producing beef, be it from the national dairy herd or the national suckler herd. The main co-ordinator and national chairman, Eamon Corley, has set up a working group of committed people to help promote the initiative and more help is invited from the farming public and general public.  

‘Mr Corley wishes to have an all-inclusive approach from all sectors of the Irish farming diaspora. A series of meetings is currently taking place throughout Ireland to explain the Beef Plan and to help improve the plan where possible.  

The movement always invites contributions from the attendance and has a goal to engage with over 40,000 farmers throughout Ireland, with an all-inclusive approach. Currently just over 17,000 have engaged with the initiative and numbers are steadily increasing.  

‘This is an indication of the seriousness and importance of this topic for all the stakeholders,’ added Ms O’Sullivan. 

Encouraging farmers to attend Beef Plan Movement meetings, award-winning drystock farmer Gerard Dineen from Cill na Martra said that beef farmers in particular should do their sums, factoring in their time and input costs against the prices they are getting for their produce in order to make sure their enterprise is worth their while. If it’s not, he warned, it will be very difficult to get young farmers involved in beef farming in the future. 

As well as next Thursday’s meeting in Bantry, another one is scheduled for a week later, on February 28th, at the Vienna Woods Hotel in Glanmire. 

Helen O’Sullivan can be contacted on 087-2839703 for any further information, or one may consult the Beef Plan website at www.beefplan.ie 

Share this article