Mart closures needs radical response to current demand
THE closure of Enniscorthy and New Ross marts has been a game changer for farmers, mart managers are filling the gap, facilitating the sale of calves over the phone, keeping mindful of the need to maintain.
New Ross mart manager Richie Kirwan said New Ross mart had brought in strict distancing measures and new restrictions, including the 100-person limit.
‘ The timing couldn’t be worse. We were just starting to get going. Farmers are looking for action. They have to sell. The grass is starting to come and they want to shift calves and many need to be buying dairy stock. April is probably the busiest month of the year.’
Around 6,000 animals are sold at New Ross Mart every month. ‘ The factories are working away. They are putting a downward pressure on prices. It’s all having a knock on effect. The factories no longer have hotels, and McDonalds or Supermacs to sell to and yet the supermarket shelves are being filled like never before with meat products.’
Mr Kirwan’s phone has been hopping with anxious farmers calling him.
‘A lot of our clientele would be of the older generation and they are anxious. The Government are firefighting. This is on a scale no one has ever experienced of something this size. It’s very hard to say what is the best solution. Maybe they will appreciate farmers more after this.’
Mr Kirwan is hopeful marts can reopen on April 20. ‘It’s all going to depend on how bad this is going to get.’
He said many farmers are effectively self isolating during
Spring anyway. ‘One farmer said he hadn’t seen anyone in six days as the cows had started calving and the ewes are lambing. The mart would be their only social contact and interaction for a week.’
He said the pillars of rural Ireland are being torn down. ‘Between post offices, garda stations, shops, creameries, the pubs are even going.’
Mr Kirwan said he and his team will try to match as many buyers and sellers as they can, adding that there is no talk of an online matching system. ‘We are better off working over the phone (than online). Buyers can come to a farm and look at the animal so distancing is observed.’
Enniscorthy Mart manager Tommy Harrington has been working there for 47 years and he has never seen anything like the virus.
‘I’ve been through the Foot and Mouth crisis, a few recessions and they all pass you by. When you are dealing with livestock every day of the week it all passes you by unknown.’
He said the rings had been marked out and a big effort was made to ensure physical distancing was being observed. ‘We had hand sanitizers in place and new measures were due to come in last Wednesday. Everything was being adhered to, apart from an odd case.’
He said: ‘It worked very well here on the Tuesday before the restrictions were brought in. A lot of the farmers did attend that day and many stayed in their jeep where the details of the animals were taken with our staff standing at the appropriate distance. Many stayed in their tractor or jeep and as soon as the animals was sold we would give them a ring. It was a system that was working.
There was no one in the yard, only the staff because of the previous regulations with the department. The ordinary public wouldn’t have been allowed into the mart.’
A few hundred people normally attend the Enniscorthy mart meets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
‘We have no problem facilitating those numbers. The calf sale was working very well because around 95 per cent of farmers wouldn’t have stayed around anyway. It’s disappointing.’
Approval for mart managers to be able to keep calves at marts prior to export is expected in the coming days, which they feel will be a massive help for farmers. In the meantime the phones are hopping with buyers and sellers calling.
‘ There is no physical contact. If a farmer wants to sell his cattle he will ring us and we will source a buyer for him and we do the transaction from the seller to the buyer and we do all of the paperwork. We guarantee payment so you are not dealing with a guy with a cheque in the post. We have an online banking system here so payment is made within 48 hours.’
Mr Harrington said he would not be in favour of an online ‘ Tinder’ style system.
‘It’s OK to go online to buy a shirt or trousers. You can send them back. Any man buying stock will tell you he would like to see them walking around first.’
He said farmers buying animals can go to the seller’s farm and inspect them from a safe distance.
‘Computers are a challenge to some people,’ he added.
Mr Harrington said he is working from day to day, as no one knows when the restrictions will be lifted.
‘Our main concern would be the welfare of the calves.’
He is confident the mart will continue to play a vital role in farmers’ lives. ‘ There will always be Enniscorthy Mart. That is what we do as a cooperative; keep the whole thing going for farmers.’
Independent TD Verona Murphy said: ‘Farmers are regarded as essential services. It’s very important that something is done, particularly for calf sales as most farmers don’t rear calves. There are dairy farmers who ultimately sell on their calves and that avenue is not open to them now. Rather than some form of animal welfare situation arising I would like to see the Department of Agriculture come up with a solution to this.’