Poultry farmers, have this morning (Tuesday, December 21st), gathered in protest in Cavan Town to highlight income losses.
IFA Poultry Committee and producers assembled at 11 am to demonstrate at the main retailers in the town in what they described as “an effort to recover costs and secure the survival of the sector”.
These include:
- Tesco;
- Aldi;
- Lidl;
- Dunnes;
- SuperValu.
Poultry farmers protest
In a statement, IFA poultry chairman, Andy Boylan, said:
“Poultry growers are caught in a classic cost-price squeeze that has to be addressed urgently. Retailers cannot rely on producers to keep going in this situation”.
He added that family farms that produce Bord Bia Quality-Assured chicken and eggs have seen their costs of production increase at an “unprecedented” rate in the last year.
According to the farm group, the cost of gas, energy, labour and animal feed have all seen inflation not witnessed by the sector in half a generation.
“Irish inflation shot to a 14-year high in October, which has had a damaging effect on the sector,” Boylan added.
Feed costs up
Vice-chairman of the poultry committee, Brendan Soden, said farmers are “very” concerned about their future.
He pointed out that the EU average price for eggs has increased by 13.2%.
“However, Ireland is one of only two member states where the price has decreased by 8.4% in the past 12 months. Feed costs are up 36% on last year. This is simply unsustainable.”
Furthermore, Boylan stressed that growers are suffering and losing money.
“Without an immediate increase in the wholesale, retail price, to be passed back to egg and chicken producers, the entire sector is in jeopardy.”
“We produce top quality, Bord Bia QA produce, at prices which are not sustainable.”
“We intend to highlight the absolute necessity for our costs to be recovered from the food chain immediately,” he concluded.
Brady elected as IFA Ulster/Nth Leinster Regional Chairman
In other IFA-related news, Frank Brady from Monaghan is the new Ulster/Nth Leinster Regional chairman.
IFA national returning officer, Martin Stapleton, announced the result at the count last Friday (December 17th) afternoon.
The farm group held the count at the Irish Farm Centre in line with public health guidelines.
Frank Brady received 1,199 votes, to John Curran from Meath with 929 votes.
Stapleton said the turnout of 83% among delegates to the seven county executives in the Ulster/Nth Leinster region was a decisive mandate.
