The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has called on Agriculture Minister, Michael Creed, to get commission support for farmers who are facing Armageddon from Brexit.
IFA President Joe Healy said that Irish farmers are already bearing the brunt of the impending Brexit through disastrous beef prices.
“Minister Creed needs to put on the green jersey and tog out, right now, for Irish farmers who are facing a potential Armageddon from Brexit,” he said.
Healy said that the Minister needs to insist that for every 5c/kg change in the cattle price, the EU Commission makes provision for €20 per head compensation on every beef animal slaughtered.
Cannot Wait
His calls were backed by IFA Livestock Chairman Angus Woods, who said that farmers cannot wait for support.
“Irish beef farmers cannot wait until April for the Minister to act on EU price support and compensation,” he said.
“We need Minister Creed to act immediately and get out to Brussels and make it clear to Commissioner Hogan and the Commission that Irish beef farmers cannot be the ones to carry the cost of Brexit losses.”
He added that at current cattle price levels, winter finishers are already shipping major losses, which is not sustainable.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
