The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has called on factories to adopt a more responsible approach to continue the supply of Quality Assured lamb out of season, according to a recent statement issued by the group.
This follows a meeting between the IFA and the lamb factories from Meat Industry Ireland (MII) in Dublin last week.
John Lynskey, IFA National Sheep Chairman, said, “Factories need to adopt a more responsible and longer term approach to ensure the continued supply of Quality Assured lamb out of season to meet their retail requirements on a full year-round basis and reduce their dependence on imports.”
He also outlined that it is very much in the interests of meat plants and the broader sheep sector that hogget finishers have a strong viable business.
Lynskey said the approach from some of the main lamb factories in applying an across-the-board clipping charge on all sheep being processed is 'very negative and wrong'.
He called on the factories to reconsider their policy on this which he said was not working.
On imports, Lynskey said “IFA made it very clear to the lamb factories that farmers would take a very dim view of any imports, either live or in carcase form, from outside the island, being used to push back the market.”
© 2017 - Checkout Magazine by Donna Ahern
